


The Reason Is You

by lovesnarf (snarfette)



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22118314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarfette/pseuds/lovesnarf
Summary: Robert isn’t lonely. He’s a single dad, he works hard, he doesn’t have time for meeting people: that doesn’t mean he’s lonely. So he’s not sure what possesses him to pick up a stranded motorist on a cold winter’s night and offer him a place to stay.Aaron isn’t in trouble. His car’s broken down in the middle of nowhere, he doesn’t know who he can trust, he’s running but he’s not sure where to go: it certainly sounds like he’s in trouble. So he’s not sure why he decides to get into Robert’s car and go with him.What should be a good deed and one night quickly turns into so much more, and Aaron and Robert both find themselves falling hard. But Aaron’s got a dangerous secret that might bring more to Robert’s door than he bargained for. And Robert’s got a five year old daughter who he has to put first no matter what he might want for himself.
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 343
Kudos: 497





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here I am, back with another Robron fic. It’s definitely AU. I’ve been having some doubts about my writing of late so any feedback would be gratefully received. 
> 
> The title of the fic comes from the incredibly fitting Hoobastank song, “The Reason”.

“It means no worries, for the rest of your days! It’s our problem free, philosophy. Hakuna Matata!” 

Robert sang the final lines of the song as Lily joined in and then clapped her hands excitedly, applauding her father for his efforts. 

“Can we have that one again, Daddy?” she asked enthusiastically from the back seat as the music faded out. 

Rolling his eyes, Robert grimaced and then smiled at her as he glanced at her in the rear view mirror as he drove. As much as he could appreciate the lyrical genius of ‘The Lion King’ soundtrack, they’d been listening to the same songs on repeat for the last hour as they’d driven home and he was about at the edge of what he could take. He was dying to put some Fleetwood Mac on or The Killers or something a little less ‘Disney’. And Lily liked all of that stuff anyway so she wouldn’t mind and he loved listening to her singing along, often with her own made-up, but extremely cute, versions of the lyrics. 

“I think I’m all Hakuna Matata’d out, sweetheart,” he told her.

The inevitable pout appeared and he wondered when she’d perfected it. Maybe he was just a soft-touch, and she clearly knew it. 

“But you’re so good at all the voices,” she said. “You do the best Pumba.” 

He didn’t know whether it was actually a compliment that he could do a good impression of a warthog, but he laughed anyway and skipped his phone back to the beginning of the song. 

“This is the last time,” he said. “We’ll be home soon anyway.”

The music got going again and Robert dutifully joined in. They’d only got about a minute into the song when Robert noticed a car with its bonnet up pulled over at the side of the road in front of them. There was someone standing with it, but he couldn’t make out much detail as it was already dark outside. 

Turning the music down, he slowed the car and pulled over beside the stranded vehicle, winding his window down and letting an icy blast of cold air in as he did so. 

The man standing with the car looked extremely tense, like he was wound up and ready to either run or spring into action as Robert leant out of his window a little. 

“You alright?” he asked. 

He was half wondering why he’d stopped at all, but it was a cold, wintry night and, unless you knew the area, it really was like the middle of nowhere, so for some reason he’d been concerned that the person with the car might be stuck there all night. 

The man’s eyes darted over Robert and his car and then froze for the briefest of moments on Lily in the backseat, who Robert could hear yawning like the whole scenario was extremely dull, which he supposed to a five year old it was, but really he knew she was just tired after a long day. 

“Not an ideal spot for a breakdown,” Robert remarked when the other man didn’t seem to make any attempt to reply to his initial question. 

Finally, the man stepped a little closer. He still looked wary and he had his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. Robert still couldn’t clearly see his face. 

“Yeah, um, I can’t get it going. Not sure what’s up with it.”

Robert didn’t really want to offer to help get the car started. He had some experience working with cars but he wasn’t willing to get out, on a dark road, and start tinkering with the engine while Lily was strapped into the back of his own car. 

“Where are you heading?” he asked instead. 

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly but then he just shrugged. “Just...wherever’s closest. Need somewhere to stop off for the night.”

Robert chewed on his lower lip and glanced in the rearview mirror at Lily. 

He could do the decent thing and offer this poor bloke a lift into Emmerdale. They were nearly there and if he drove off and left him he’d be worried all night that he’d ended up sleeping in his car or something. The temperature had already dropped significantly and it was only just gone eight. 

But the other half of his brain was telling him it was a stupid idea to pick up a complete stranger and take him anywhere, especially with his child in the car. The bloke could be a murderer or an escaped convict or something. 

Robert’s eyes lingered on Lily, who was entertaining herself with her stuffed bear, holding its face up against the window and making its paw wave at the man with the broken down car. When he finally looked back at the man, he was pulling a face at Lily, or maybe the bear, and for some reason that helped him make his mind up about what he should do. 

“D’you want a lift?” he asked and half-wondered where the suggestion had come from. 

The man was clearly surprised too. His eyes widened as he looked back at Robert and he tilted his head to the side slightly, like he was trying to figure something out. 

“Just...um...you’ll be waiting a long time for The AA to turn up out here, and we’re not far from the next village. You should be able to find somewhere to stay there,” Robert continued, feeling a little unsure of himself and wondering if the offer was too weird in this day and age. Who really stopped and picked up total strangers from the side of the road? Had Robert just driven straight into his very own horror movie? 

“I...um...are you sure?” the man eventually asked. He didn’t look sure about the offer himself, so Robert wondered who the question was really aimed at. 

“Yeah...it’s not far. There’s a B&B you could stay at.”

Still the man hesitated. 

“Daddy! I need a wee,” Lily piped up from the backseat and Robert looked over his shoulder to see that she really was doing that wriggly thing she did when she wanted the loo and he realised he didn’t actually have time to wait for this stranger to make his decision. 

Turning back to look at the man, he shrugged. “Now or never,” he said, trying to sound apologetic about forcing the man’s hand.

The man nodded once, walked to the car and opened the back door. He leaned in and grabbed a hold-all. Then he quickly made his way back to Robert’s car and opened the passenger door. 

The light inside the car illuminated the interior as the man slid inside, clutching the bag on his knee, and Robert finally got a good look at him after he’d fastened his seat belt. The man looked up at Robert after he’d finished with the belt, and Robert sucked in a breath and pressed his lips into a fine line. 

The man was gorgeous. He had brilliant blue eyes that seemed to draw Robert in - he was sure he’d never seen eyes that colour before. Dark, slightly messy hair and the perfect amount of scruff as far as Robert was concerned. 

He also had a bruise on his right cheekbone and a cut at the corner of his mouth that looked fresh. His lip was slightly swollen and Robert felt the strangest urge to reach out and gently touch it, smooth his thumb over it carefully. 

The man was staring back at him, blinking slowly, and Robert couldn’t tear his eyes away even as the interior light faded and left them with only the lights from the dashboard to illuminate the space. 

“Daddy!” Lily yelled and Robert actually jumped as it startled him from his reverie. 

“Sorry, sweetheart. We’re...we’re going now,” he said. 

He put the car in gear and cast his eyes sideways at the man next to him. 

“So, um, what’s your name?” he asked and then cringed a little. This was such a weird situation. 

“Aaron,” the man replied gruffly. “And you?”

“Um, I’m Robert. Robert Sugden.” He wondered why he’d decided to give his whole name. 

“I’m Lily. Lily Sugden,” Lily chirped from the back seat. Robert smiled to himself at her imitation of his introduction. 

Aaron turned a little in his seat to face her. “Hello, Lily,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Do you like The Lion King?” Lily asked without any preamble and Robert wondered, not for the first time, when his daughter had become so confident. 

“I...um...it’s alright,” Aaron replied and he sounded like he had no idea where the line of questioning was leading. 

“It’s my favourite,” Lily declared. “And Daddy’s. He knows all the words.”

Robert made a choked off little coughing sound. His daughter was doing a brilliant job of embarrassing him in front of the fit bloke they’d stumbled across. “It’s not...I...” He gave up and focused on the road. “Some of us enjoy a sing-along in the car, don’t we, Lily?”

“Yep. And you’re the best at doing the voices.”

Aaron had turned back to face the front again, but Robert could feel him looking at him from the corner of his eye. It was like he could feel a flush rising on his body where Aaron’s eyes tracked over him. It was probably something to do with the embarrassment of being outed as a Disney fanboy. 

“I prefer Toy Story,” Aaron suddenly announced and Robert couldn’t help but look over at him in surprise. 

Lily cheered. “We like that one too! What’s the song from that go like?”

Robert glanced at Aaron again and raised his eyebrows: Aaron was the one who had brought it up so he had to answer. For the briefest of moments, he wondered if Aaron might burst into song, but then he shook his head at his own silliness. This whole evening was turning out to be extremely bizarre. 

“It’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend In Me’,” Aaron said and then he fell quiet again like that was the end of the conversation. 

Any moment, Robert was expecting Lily to burst into song, but he saw the sign for the village and he jumped into the silence. 

“Nearly there now,” he announced a little too brightly. “Um, I’ll drop you off at the B&B, yeah? You’ll be able to find a room at least for tonight.”

Aaron looked at him and their eyes met briefly before Robert turned back to the road. “Yeah. That’s great. Thanks.”

It seemed that Aaron wasn’t one for many words. In fact, Robert didn’t know whether to be offended that Aaron had seemed to have more to say do Lily than himself. 

After they’d turned down Main Street, Robert slowed to a halt outside the B&B. 

“Just up there,” he said as he pointed, but then felt a bit redundant seeing as there was a sign clearly showing the venue. 

Aaron looked back over towards him and offered him a tight smile. 

“Cheers,” he said simply before he opened the door to climb out. 

“See ya,” Robert called after him. 

Aaron held up a hand as a wave and then shut the door. 

“Bye, Aaron,” Lily shouted and he must have heard her because he smiled at her and waved before he turned and wandered up the path, clutching his bag tightly. 

For some reason, Robert didn’t drive off. He stayed exactly where he was until Lily called his name, clearly protesting the fact that they hadn’t moved and she still needed the toilet. 

“Sorry, sweetie,” he said as he finally tore his eyes away from Aaron and continued down the road to their house. 

When they made it inside, it was a rush of Lily tearing up the stairs to the bathroom and Robert bringing the bags in and dumping them on the side in the kitchen. 

Lily skipped back down the stairs a few minutes later and Robert sorted her some crumpets and told her she’d be going to bed straight after her late tea. He treated her to sitting in front of the TV on the sofa to eat her tea and she immediately flicked the kids channels on while Robert pottered about in the kitchen. 

He felt unsettled. 

Maybe it had been the unusual encounter with Aaron on the road. Or maybe it had just been a long day. But he didn’t feel quite right. 

He stood at the sink and peered out of the kitchen window. There was a figure standing in the street, holding a bag. It was a man. It was Aaron. He looked both ways up and down the road and then slowly starting walking back the way they’d entered the village. 

Robert rushed through to the doorway of the living room. Lily was still engrossed in the TV and her crumpets. 

“Lily, stay there. I’m just going to check something,” he told her. She nodded and hummed in agreement like she didn’t have a care in the world, and Robert spun around and raced to the front door. 

He threw it open and hurried outside. Aaron was still walking in the opposite direction. 

“Aaron!” he shouted. 

He stopped and turned around and, even from a distance, Robert could see he looked tense. Again like he was tightly wound and ready to act. 

Robert checked behind him. The front door was slightly ajar so it wasn’t letting the cold in, but Lily wouldn’t get locked in either. He jogged a few paces up the road and noticed that Aaron had taken a few steps back towards him. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

For a moment, he wondered if he should have been asking himself that question. This was absolutely mental. 

Aaron frowned at him and shrugged. 

“No room at the inn,” he said.

“What?” Robert asked in confusion.

Gesturing towards the B&B, Aaron clarified what he meant. “They’re full. No rooms left.”

Shit. Now Robert felt like a dick. He’d convinced Aaron to come with him, told him there was a place to stay, and now there wasn’t. 

There wasn’t much distance between them as they’d both gradually wandered closer. 

“Sorry...I didn’t realise. So...what’re you going to do now?”

Aaron shrugged again. He looked knackered, but still on edge. Maybe that was why he looked so tired. 

“Head back to my car, I suppose. See if I can get it going.”

“You can’t!” Robert said loudly and then felt rude and wondered why he was so invested in what Aaron did. “It’s a fair walk and it’s freezing already. And what if you can’t sort it?”

“I’ll survive,” Aaron said simply. 

For some reason, Robert couldn’t accept that. It didn’t sound like a sensible plan at all and he knew he definitely wouldn’t be able to settle if he knew Aaron was out there in the cold struggling to get his car going. 

“Come and stay at mine,” he said and then he wondered what had got into him. What was he thinking? Inviting a total stranger into his car was one thing, but asking him to come in and stay for the night was something else. He didn’t know whether he wanted Aaron to accept his offer or turn him down. 

“You what?” Aaron asked in utter shock. 

“Oh...I...um...I just...I’ve got a sofa. You could sleep on that for the night. Better than being out here.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes at Robert like, again, he was trying to figure something out. 

“Your sense of self-preservation is crap,” he finally said. 

Huffing out a little laugh, it was Robert’s turn to shrug. 

“I could be a serial killer or something,” Aaron added. 

Robert’s eyebrows rose. “Are you?” he asked. 

“No,” Aaron replied. “But that’s exactly what a serial killer would tell you.”

Robert offered him a tiny smile. “Well, you don’t look like a serial killer, so...”

Aaron shook his head slightly. “Yeah, because that’s rational. And how do I know you aren’t going to murder me?”

Robert chuckled. “I have a five year old kid - when do you think I’d have time for committing murders?”

Aaron gave him one last assessing look and then he nodded once before he walked towards Robert. 

“Lead the way,” he said simply. 

Robert drew in a deep breath and did exactly what Aaron had asked. 

When they walked back into the house, Lily was sitting exactly where Robert had left her. 

“All done?” Robert asked as he walked into the living room. 

“Mmmhmm,” she mumbled as she turned to look at him. Her eyes landed on Aaron, who was standing slightly behind Robert, and they lit up. Discarding her empty plate onto the sofa beside her, she jumped up and beamed in Aaron’s direction. “Is Aaron staying with us?”

Robert looked between the two of them and nodded. “Um, yes, he is. For tonight...at least, I suppose.” He wondered why he seemed to be stumbling over his words so much in Aaron’s presence. Maybe because it was such an unusual situation that had occurred. But he supposed he only had himself to blame for it. Not that he wanted, or needed, anyone to blame. He shook his head as if to clear his racing thoughts. He didn’t know what had come over him. 

“Yes!” Lily declared happily. “We can watch Toy Story!”

Robert shook his head immediately. “No way, little miss. It’s bedtime for you.”

Immediately, Lily’s face fell. “Oh no. Can’t I stay up?”

Robert strode into the room and picked up her plate off the sofa. “You are up,” he told her simply. “It’s already past your bedtime. It’s teeth brushed and bed for you. You can have a bath in the morning.”

“No story?” Lily asked and she looked utterly appalled by the thought of it. 

For some reason, Robert glanced at Aaron. He was still standing in the doorway and he was watching their interaction with a tiny smile on his face. 

“Of course we’ll do a story,” Robert replied, suddenly feeling a bit flustered about the whole thing. “But only if you go and get your teeth done.”

Lily made her way to the door to head upstairs without any further protest and Robert thanked his lucky stars that, for the most part, she was so well-behaved. 

“Night night, Aaron,” she said as she went by him.

Aaron cleared his throat. “Good night.”

When Lily had made her way onto the bottom step, she paused and looked at him seriously. “Wait...you’ll be here in the morning, won’t you?” 

“Um...yeah...I suppose,” Aaron replied.

“Good,” she said. “Daddy said we’re having pancakes and you don’t want to miss them. They’re the best.”

Robert’s eyes widened and his mouth flapped open a bit. For a moment, he hung his head and despaired that his daughter had just invited a stranger to stay for breakfast, but then he supposed it was a case of like father, like daughter seeing as he’d invited that same stranger to stay in his house overnight. He could see where she got it from. 

When Robert looked up, Lily had disappeared up the stairs and Aaron was watching him again.

They stared at one another for a long moment before Robert cleared his throat. 

“I’ll...um...” he waved the plate in his hand around a bit. “I’ll go and get her settled for the night and then I’ll get you a spare duvet and pillow sorted. Um...make yourself at home.”

He walked around Aaron, who was still lingering in the doorway, dropped the plate off in the kitchen and then made his way up the stairs. 

Lily was humming to herself in the bathroom as she brushed her teeth. Robert was pretty sure it was ‘Hakuna Matata’. 

“All sorted?” he asked as he stepped into the room.

After spitting her toothpaste into the sink, she grinned up at him with a foamy mouth. 

“Why does Aaron have a cut on his lip?” she asked and Robert was once again caught off guard. 

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” he answered honestly. He didn’t know and it just added to the mystery of the evening. But it also made him doubt his decision to invite Aaron to stay: he had no idea who Aaron was; what trouble he might be involved in that had led him to end up battered and bruised. What if he’d made a terrible mistake bringing him here? 

“Maybe he fell over,” Lily continued seriously. “Are you going to make it better?”

Robert spluttered a little at the question. 

“You always make me feel better when I fall over.”

“I’m sure Aaron is old enough to look after himself,” he told her. “Rinse your mouth, please,” he added. 

Lily did as instructed and then went to her bedroom to get her pyjamas on. Robert tidied up the bathroom and then went to her room to gather up the clothes she’d thrown onto her bed. He watched as she sorted through the pile of books on her shelf looking for the one she wanted for that night’s story. 

He loved her so much. He’d never believed that he could love another person so much. He’d never realised it was possible to possess so much love. She was the most important person in his world and he’d do anything for her. 

The doubt from before crept into his mind. He didn’t know what had got into him when he’d asked Aaron to stay. If it was just him, it wouldn’t matter, but Lily was here and he’d never put her in harm’s way. What if Aaron was dangerous? What if he was a criminal? Robert knew nothing about him. ‘Aaron’ might not even be his real name. He almost panicked at the thought. Something inside him was telling him it was going to be okay, but he couldn’t help the fear that whispered in his ear. 

As Lily turned, book in hand, to climb into bed, he made a decision.

“You can sleep in my bed tonight.”

Lily’s eyes widened like she’d just been given the best news of the week. A grin split her face and she actually looked like she might burst. 

“I can sleep in the big bed?” she gasped. “But I’m not poorly.”

Robert almost laughed at the expression on her face and the way she was so used to their routines. She was right, of course. Usually, it was only when she was ill and he wanted to keep a close eye on her, that he let her stay in his bed. He never got much sleep when she was there: too worried about her; too alert to her presence; too amazed that someone so small could starfish quite so much and take up quite so much space. On the weekends, she sometimes came bounding in and jumped on his bed to wake him up, but actually sleeping in there was pretty rare. She always seemed to love it though, even though she was usually ill at the time. Robert remembered sleeping in his parents’ bed a few times as a child and feeling like he was so small in comparison to the huge mattress he was lying on, so he understood her excitement. 

“Just for tonight,” he told her. 

He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep if Lily was in her own room and Aaron was downstairs. He didn’t want to think badly of Aaron but, ultimately, he was a stranger and Robert wouldn’t take any risks. If Lily was in his room, he could keep an eye on her and keep her safe. 

“Yes!” Lily shouted as she skipped out of her own room, clutching her book, and bounded across the landing into Robert’s bedroom. 

Robert switched off the light and followed her. By the time, he made it into his room, Lily was already burying herself down under his duvet, right in the middle of the bed. 

He smiled to himself, shook his head slightly, and sat on the bed with her. He took the book she held out to him before she snuggled down against the pillow and then he started to read.

***

It was very quiet downstairs which Robert was used to - once Lily was tucked up in bed for the night, it was just him in the house and he’d got used to the way the house fell silent around him until he flicked the TV on or started pottering about in the kitchen. But he expected some noise to be coming from downstairs seeing as he had a guest. Aaron wasn’t making any sound and it seemed like he hadn’t bothered turning the telly on. 

Robert walked back into the living room to find Aaron staring at his phone. He seemed lost in thought. 

When Robert softly cleared his throat, Aaron startled a little and looked up at him quickly. He shoved the phone back in his jacket pocket. Robert thought it was odd that he hadn’t even taken his coat off - maybe he wasn’t planning on staying after all. For some reason, that thought made Robert feel disappointed. 

“Alright?” Robert asked as he hovered near the door. 

Aaron nodded quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, fine.”

Robert nodded too and then stepped closer to the sofa. Lily’s words about Aaron’s split lip had got lodged in his head for some reason. 

“Your lip...it’s...uh...it’s bleeding,” he said as he held out a box of tissues and a tube of antiseptic cream. 

Aaron blinked up at him in surprise and Robert felt his cheeks warm suddenly. He bet Aaron thought he was a right twat. 

“Lily was worried about it,” he said as though he needed to clarify why he was offering first aid supplies. Then he wondered why he’d bothered - surely it didn’t matter, surely he was just being helpful and didn’t need to justify it. What was wrong with him? 

Something unreadable flickered across Aaron’s face and then he reached out for the tissues and the cream. 

“Cheers,” he said simply. “She’s a good kid,” he added. 

Robert felt the same sense of pride he always did whenever anyone praised his daughter. She deserved it and it reminded him that maybe he wasn’t doing such a bad job of raising her. 

“Thanks. I like to think so,” he replied. 

They both fell silent until Robert announced that he was going to make them a cup of tea and hurried off to the kitchen. 

He took a moment once he was there to just breathe. This was the weirdest evening he’d ever had and he still couldn’t believe he’d picked up some random bloke from the side of the road. He wasn’t actually sure what he was going to do for the rest of the night. He was pretty good in social situations, could usually talk to most people pretty easily, but he didn’t think Aaron seemed like the sort for small talk. 

He took a long time over making their drinks, realised he hadn’t even asked Aaron how he liked his tea and silently berated himself, and then walked back into the living room clutching the two mugs. At least Aaron had shrugged his coat off by the time he got back. 

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t even check if you had milk and sugar.”

“Just milk,” Aaron replied simply as he took the mug from Robert. “Cheers.”

There were a couple of bloodied tissues in his lap and Robert glanced at his lip to see that it looked less bloody than before. He wanted to ask what had happened. He wondered who was responsible. He wondered why Aaron had ended up getting hurt. But he knew he couldn’t ask and something inside him told him it would be a bad idea. He got the feeling Aaron would disappear out the door if Robert got too nosey. And strangely enough, he really didn’t want that to happen. 

Part of him couldn’t resist trying to find out some tiny piece of information though. Mysterious, attractive strangers didn’t just stumble into his life every day. 

“So, um, where were you heading tonight anyway?” he asked. He blew on his tea to avoid looking at Aaron and making it too obvious that he was desperately fishing for some clue about him. 

Aaron glanced at him. “Just on my way to see family,” he replied. 

Robert nodded and risked a look sideways at him. “Oh, have you let them know where you are? Don’t want them worrying.”

Aaron nodded. “Yeah, I text my mum.”

Robert wrinkled his nose slightly. He wanted more but getting anything out of Aaron seemed like pulling teeth. He considered pushing for something else but then decided against it: maybe it was for the best if he didn’t know. Maybe Aaron would just disappear in the morning as quickly as he’d appeared in Robert’s life.

He reached for the TV remote and saw Aaron‘s body stiffen a little from the corner of his eye. Robert didn’t react: he didn’t even make it obvious that he’d noticed. He merely turned the TV on and settled back against the sofa, flicking through the channels.

“Old ‘Top Gear’ alright with you?” he asked when he’d made it to Dave. 

Aaron nodded. “Fine by me.”

He couldn’t help but glance over at Aaron as they watched in silence. 

Maybe Aaron would walk out in the morning and never be seen again. And maybe that was for the best, but Robert couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed by the prospect. 


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been absolutely blown away by the amazing reaction to this story so far - thank you so much! I’m glad it’s got you interested. Your feedback has really motivated me to get this second chapter posted as soon as possible. So, comments and kudos on this one would be very much appreciated. X

Aaron hadn’t slept well, but that was nothing unusual. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d got a good night’s sleep. His mind was too full; he was always too on edge. Sleep left you vulnerable and he hadn’t been able to let his guard down for months. 

It was nothing to do with his new environment - not really. If anything, he should have probably felt safer in this house than he had anywhere for quite some time. 

The events of the previous evening had been bizarre and totally unexpected. The car breaking down had been the icing on top of a day from hell; a day that he’d been sure he wouldn’t live to see the end of. Then, when he’d been sure he was doomed to spend the night outside in sub-zero temperatures, his saviour had arrived out of the darkness on the country lane. 

It had crossed his mind to just force the driver out of his car and drive off in it as the car had slowed to a stop beside him, but then he’d actually looked at the man behind the wheel and immediately abandoned that ridiculous plan. Firstly, Aaron wasn’t like that, despite the role he’d been playing for months now. He couldn’t actually imagine attacking the Good Samaritan simply for his own benefit. Secondly, how could he even think of threatening someone who looked like _that_? The bloke was bloody gorgeous and Aaron was not immune to a handsome face. And then, as though Aaron had needed another reason, he’d glanced at the backseat and spotted the kid brightly grinning up at him. 

Any thoughts of criminal activity were well and truly vetoed. 

He’d been suspicious of Robert at first when he’d started talking and offering him help. Who would stop and offer a random bloke at the side of the road a lift like he had? But there was something about him that had drawn Aaron in and made him accept the offer. The fact that he had an adorable kid in the backseat had helped: surely Robert couldn’t be too much of a threat with a five year old and her Disney songs in tow. In fact, after mere minutes in the car, Aaron was pretty sure that Robert was a big softie and his kid had him wrapped around her little finger. 

Maybe it had been a bad move to accept the lift and maybe it had been even more foolish to accept the offer to stay the night, but he hadn’t exactly had many options and it wasn’t like anyone would be looking for him there.

He’d not slept well: a combination of too much on his mind, being too on edge and being in an unusual location. He was pretty confident that neither Robert nor his daughter were going to be sneaking down in the night to murder him, but you could never be too careful. He’d managed a couple of hours of cat-napping, but he longed for a decent night’s sleep. He didn’t think that would be happening any time soon. He needed to watch his back. 

The text he’d received last night while Robert had been upstairs putting Lily to bed had only hammered home the message:

“You’re a dead man, Livesy.” 

He didn’t doubt the sentiment for a moment. If they caught up to him...well, he was done for. And now, on top of everything else, he didn’t even know who he could trust. Someone had sold him out: someone had betrayed him. He had no idea who or why, but he knew he was on his own. At least for a little while. He couldn’t reach out to anyone for help: they might be the ones who’d turned on him, or he might inadvertently put someone he cared about in danger. He was screwed.

Aaron had been awake for a while. He’d sat up on the sofa and tidied up the spare duvet that Robert had given him the night before. He could hear the signs of life upstairs: chattering from Lily and Robert’s deeper voice replying. 

When he’d gone upstairs to use the loo before settling on the sofa for the night, he’d walked past the open door to what must have been the little girl’s room. The pink and purple decoration and the cuddly toys were a big giveaway. She was nowhere in sight and Aaron understood immediately. While Robert had been welcoming, he obviously still had some doubts about who Aaron really was and had put his daughter in his own room for the night. Aaron couldn’t blame him: he was a stranger, after all. And Aaron had only been half-joking when he’d pointed out that Robert had a terrible sense of self-preservation. Aaron knew he wasn’t about to kill them in their sleep, but Robert didn’t and he’d still invited Aaron to stay. He was glad Lily was staying in her dad’s room; it meant Robert wasn’t a complete idiot. 

He wasn’t an idiot, even if his decision making was questionable, but he was fit. As they’d sat on the sofa watching Top Gear reruns, Aaron had glanced over at Robert a few times. He’d been sure Robert had been doing the same, but it was hard to know if he was looking because he found Aaron attractive or whether he was just curious about his house guest. While he didn’t have time for eyeing up fit blokes, and definitely had bigger issues on his mind, Aaron wasn’t blind. He’d thought Robert was gorgeous from the moment he’d slightly leaned out of his car window to speak to Aaron. And, maybe in a different world, in a different time, Aaron would have done something about that. But right now, his priorities did not involve shagging random fit blokes. Unfortunately. 

What could have turned into a moment of daydreaming was interrupted by heavy footsteps on the stairs and then Lily bounding into the living room still in her pink pyjamas and wrapped in a fluffy purple dressing gown. Aaron was starting to think there was a colour theme. 

“ _Lily_!” 

Aaron heard Robert calling her name in a low voice, but she paid him absolutely no attention as she beamed at Aaron. 

He smiled back at her. She really was a cute kid.

“He’s here!” Lily announced brightly, like it was Christmas morning and she’d found her presents under the tree, just as Robert entered the living room. 

His eyes landed on Aaron and he seemed to freeze for a moment before Lily grabbed his attention again. 

“Daddy, he’s here!” she repeated. 

“I can see that. Sorry...about the wake-up call,” he said as he looked down at Aaron, then he turned his attention to his daughter and gave her a look that Aaron recognised as a parental ‘I’m not impressed’ face. “Lily, I told you not to come barging in like that. Aaron might still have been asleep - not everyone wakes up at seven on a Sunday morning, you know.”

Lily nodded her head seriously like this was something she’d been told before. 

“I was excited,” she said more quietly than before. “Sorry, Aaron.”

“It’s okay,” he replied quickly. “I was already up anyway.” He really didn’t want her getting in trouble because of his presence. And it was nice to know someone was pleased to see him. It made something warm settle inside him: a feeling he’d not had for a long time. 

Robert looked a little awkward. 

“So...um, seeing as we’re all up...d’you want a cuppa?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah, please,” Aaron replied. He wasn’t known for being great company in the morning, at least until he got his first cup of tea down, but he pushed himself up off the sofa and followed Robert to the kitchen. He didn’t really know how to behave in this situation. He wasn’t a guest in the typical sense and he certainly felt like a bit of an imposition. He didn’t want Robert to think he was completely rude and just sat around waiting for cups of tea to be delivered. 

Robert realised he’d been followed and turned to face him in the small kitchen. 

“Tea, yeah? Just milk?” He turned back to the kitchen counter before Aaron had even replied to turn the kettle on. “Um...did you...did you sleep alright?” he asked. He sounded as awkward as Aaron felt. 

“Uh, yeah. Thanks,” Aaron said. He wondered if Robert could tell it was a lie. 

As if answering his pondering, Robert turned to look at him again. 

“Sorry I couldn’t offer you an actual bed,” he said and then his eyes widened a little. 

Aaron coughed and his own eyes mirrored Robert’s. He didn’t even know if Robert was into blokes, but he kind of thought he might be based on what he’d seen so far. 

“I meant...um...the spare room’s a mess so I only had the sofa,” he turned back to the kettle which had boiled behind him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d had a crap night on the sofa.”

“It was fine, thanks,” Aaron reassured him. “Better than being out in my car for the night.”

Robert finished the teas and turned round to hand one over to Aaron before he leant back against the counter with his own mug in his hand. It was such a simple, domestic moment that something in Aaron wished it would last. He didn’t know what had come over him: he was used to the way his life was. The reason he’d been doing what he had was because he didn’t have ties like other people: no significant other, no kids. And he didn’t know why Robert seemed to be having such an effect on him. Yes, the man was fit, standing there fully clothed but still slightly rumpled from sleep like he’d been dragged out of bed before he was ready, and maybe he was interested in Aaron too, but nothing could come of it so Aaron needed to remind himself to stop being such a soft git. 

Maybe it was just because Robert was the first person who’d been genuinely friendly towards him for what felt like a long time. 

“Do you want me to take you back to your car this morning?” Robert asked. “We can take a look at it and if we can’t get it going, we’ll tow it back here to the garage. It won’t be open ‘til tomorrow but I’m sure Dan’ll have a look at it for you then.”

Aaron blinked at Robert in surprise. 

“You don’t need to do that. You’ve already gone out of your way to help me out. I don’t want to take the piss,” he replied. 

“It’s no problem,” Robert told him with a shrug. “I worked in a garage for a bit when I was a teenager so I might be able to fix it. Although I’m not making any promises - I think I’m a bit rusty.”

Aaron scratched the back of his head - this was all a bit overwhelming and he couldn’t quite get his head around what was going on. He was still half-expecting someone to jump out and attack him so the offer of yet more help seemed so foreign somehow. 

“Um...yeah, okay. Thanks. That’d be great.”

“Daddy, are we having pancakes?” A little voice said from behind Aaron and he turned around to find Lily smiling up at him. “Is Aaron staying?”

“Yes and...” Robert glanced at Aaron before looking back at her. “Yes.” 

“What do you like on your pancakes, Aaron?” she asked immediately. “I have Nutella and strawberries.”

Aaron looked up at Robert who was pulling a face of disgust. “She doesn’t get it from me,” Robert said with a laugh. 

Lily didn’t even wait for Aaron to reply before she bounced out of the kitchen with a little exclamation of “oh” like she’d remembered something extremely important and they could hear her rushing up the stairs.

Aaron couldn’t help but wonder about where her mum was. He had already noticed that Robert didn’t wear a wedding ring, not that that was conclusive proof, but it probably meant he wasn’t married. But he did wonder about the lack of photos of women in the house. There was one of Lily with a pretty young woman with dark hair but other than that the rest of the photos were either Lily on her own, or with her dad. 

He was suddenly extremely curious about it, but wondered at himself when he blurted out: “Won’t her mum mind me being here?” 

Wow, not subtle at all, he thought as he winced to himself as soon as the words left his mouth. He couldn’t help it: he really wanted to understand the situation here. 

Robert looked at him for a moment and his mouth turned down at the corners ever so slightly as he stared down at his nearly empty mug. 

“It’s just me and Lily,” he replied, and that seemed to be the only explanation that he was willing to give on the topic. 

“Sorry,” Aaron said immediately. “Didn’t mean to pry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Robert shook his head. “No, it’s fine. It’s not some big secret or anything. Or some tragic story. It’s just...well, me and her mum, we were never a thing. It was...” he shrugged and then looked beyond Aaron to the stairs as though he were checking that Lily wasn’t in earshot. “A one night thing, you know? And then she turned up here, like six months later, with a bump, saying that she wasn’t ready to be a mum so I could either take the baby when it was born or she’d be giving it up for adoption.”

Aaron’s mouth flapped open a little as he listened. He couldn’t imagine how that must have felt for Robert. He wondered if Robert had even had to consider it or if he’d immediately stepped up. Even having spent only a short time with the two of them, Aaron could tell that Robert didn’t regret his decision in the slightest. 

“So, three months later, I became a single dad,” Robert said like it was the simplest thing in the world. 

Aaron shook his head slightly in wonder at the whole situation.

Then Robert cleared his throat a little self-consciously. “Sorry. I’m sure you weren’t expecting all that when you asked.” He chuckled to himself softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll spare you all the details of her birth and the next five years.”

Aaron smiled at him and he knew it was the soft smile he rarely used these days and he wondered why Robert and his story made him feel kind of fond. He’d literally known the bloke for less than twenty-four hours. What the hell was wrong with him? The thing was, he felt strangely interested. Or maybe he just wanted to sit and listen to Robert talk. Or maybe he felt like _Robert_ needed someone to talk to. 

He tore his eyes away from Robert and stared down into his mug. “And...does Lily ever see her mum?”

Robert had started pulling things out of cupboards and busying himself at the counter, and he shook his head as he answered. 

“No, she’s never met her - at least not that she’d remember. She disappeared off to live her own life just a few days after Lily was born. I’ve not heard anything from her since.”

“Wow,” Aaron couldn’t help saying. Lily’s mother sounded charming. He found it hard to believe that someone could do that, could walk away so easily. And then he realised that his own mother had done something similar. She hadn’t abandoned him at birth but she’d been more interested in her own life than taking care of her son, for quite some time. Aaron had tried not to hold it against her, but sometimes that was easier said than done. Vaguely, he wondered if she was making up for years of disinterest now. She was probably more worried about him now than she’d ever been. 

Then he wondered how Lily would feel as she got older, as she started to understand more about the decision her mum had made. Glancing back at Robert, Aaron thought she seemed like she was in pretty good hands. 

“Good job she’s got you then,” he said to Robert’s back. 

Robert looked over his shoulder and gave him a small smile and a slight shrug. “I hope that’s enough,” he replied quietly. 

The words surprised Aaron, but before he could say anything in response, Lily came hurtling back into the kitchen clutching what looked like a box of Lego. 

“Aaron, can you help me build this?” she said as she waved the box at him and he heard the tell-tale rattle of hundreds of plastic bricks. 

“Lily,” Robert said over his shoulder, in a tone that he’d obviously perfected. 

“Please,” Lily added immediately. She smiled up at Aaron and he knew he was going to be powerless to resist. 

“What are we building?” Aaron asked as he took the box from her outstretched hand. 

“It’s from Frozen,” she told him brightly. “I got it for my birthday. Daddy said he’d help me this weekend but we can start while he’s making pancakes.”

Aaron looked back at Robert for confirmation that this was alright. He didn’t want to step on his toes or interfere with some father-daughter bonding time over Lego. 

Robert bit his lower lip and lifted his eyebrow. He looked like he was trying not to smile too much.

“Oh yes, you go and do that,” he said as he waved the spatula at them. “I’m sure Aaron will be excellent at building Lego.” He did smile brightly at Aaron then, as though he was saving him from the task himself, and Aaron couldn’t help but smile back and shake his head a little. He wondered if he’d been set-up. 

“Come on,” Lily said and she grabbed Aaron’s hand. 

He sucked in a breath at the feeling of her tiny soft hand fitting into his. Quickly, he looked up to see if Robert was concerned that his daughter was holding an almost-stranger’s hand, but he was busy with the pancakes and, before Aaron could worry too much, Lily had dragged him into the living room and then released him so she could open the box of Lego. She was already chattering away happily about the film and the songs and the contents of the box. 

Aaron hadn’t seen Frozen and had no idea who the characters were or what he was building, but he got the feeling he was going to know a lot more by the time they were finished.

***

Robert straightened up from where he’d been leaning over the open bonnet of the car.

“It’s the radiator hose,” he announced as he frowned at Aaron. “It’s perished and completely failed.”

“And we can’t fix that at the side of the road,” Aaron said with a sigh.

This was typical. When he’d jumped into the first car he could get his hands on, he just had to pick the one that was about to fall apart, didn’t he? Just his luck. 

After pancakes and some serious Lego construction that still needed to be completed, Robert had dropped Lily off with her ‘Auntie Vic’, which had caused much excitement as Robert had herded her towards the door, promising he’d be back soon, and then, when he’d returned, the two of them had driven back out to find the car exactly where they’d left it the night before. Aaron wasn’t sure what he was expecting when they’d arrived: someone to jump out and attack maybe, or something to have happened to the car to make the damage even worse, and he felt bad for dragging Robert into this mess. He’d scanned their surroundingscautiously as they’d stood examining the vehicle but there was no sign of anyone for miles so he’d eventually focused on discussing the issue with Robert. 

“Surprised it didn’t get picked up last time you took it in for an MOT,” Robert said and then he looked at Aaron as though he knew that he hadn’t had anything to do with the car or its maintenance in the past. 

Aaron just shoved his hands into his coat pockets and ignored the statement. His mind was racing with what he was going to do. He stared down the country road in the opposite direction to Emmerdale. His options were severely limited already and now he had no transport, at least for another day. Not that he knew where he intended to go anyway. 

“We’ll tow it back to the village and get Dan to take a look at it tomorrow,” Robert told him. 

Aaron sighed heavily. “Okay, thanks. I’ll have to check if there are any rooms at the B&B for tonight.”

Robert’s eyes widened. “Don’t be daft,” he said immediately. “You can stay at mine again.”

Hardly able to believe his ears, Aaron gaped at him. 

“I’ll even sort the spare room out for you so you can stay in there instead of on the sofa,” Robert added. 

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Aaron argued. “You’ve already gone out of your way to help me out.”

“I don’t mind,” Robert told him quickly. “It’s not a problem. And besides, it’s been kind of nice having another adult around the house.”

“Are you serious?” Aaron asked. He still couldn’t believe that Robert was actually offering him a bed for the night - again. Although at least this time he wasn’t a complete stranger. They’d both survived under the same roof for one night already, after all. 

“Keep building Lily’s endless Lego sets with her and you can stay forever,” Robert said with a smile and then he almost looked a little shy as he looked down at the ground. 

Aaron took the opportunity to let his eyes roam over Robert and he couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. 

“You sure she won’t mind be staying again? I don’t want to get in the way.”

Looking back up at him, Robert gave him a wry smile. “She’ll be over the moon. She seems to like you and she’s a pretty good judge of character - gets that from me.”

Aaron let out a soft laugh. 

“Come on then. Better get this hunk of junk hooked up to the rope so we can get it back to the village,” he said.

Robert turned back to his own car to get the tow-rope out of the boot. 

Aaron stared at the back of his head and wondered if it was ‘meant to be’ that Robert had stumbled across him last night. He wasn’t a big believer in fate or anything like that, but surely something had caused the two of them to end up in this situation. Was it more than just a case of right place, right time? Was it just a coincidence? He was confident that Robert had no ulterior motives: he could just tell. Robert could have driven by and not given Aaron a second glance: most people probably would these days. But he’d stopped, he’d offered to help and he’d given Aaron somewhere safe to stay. And now he was offering to do even more for him.

He’d known Robert for less than twenty-four hours and he was already beginning to like him, when normally he wouldn’t let anyone get too close or anyone win him over so easily. Staying with Robert again felt like the right thing to do. 

“Yeah,” Aaron called and Robert looked back towards him questioningly. “I’ll stay. Thanks.”

Robert’s lips curved into another smile as he leant back into the boot of his car.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the amazing feedback on the first few chapters of this fic - I’m so glad someone’s enjoying it. As always, feedback inspires me so please let me know what you think of this chapter.

It wouldn’t be accurate for Robert to say that he didn’t know what had happened. 

He knew exactly _what_ had happened. Aaron had stayed that second night. He’d accepted Robert’s offer of a bed and he’d spoken to Dan at the garage the next day and asked him to fix his car. But then he hadn’t left. He’d stayed another night and then another. And suddenly, almost without realising it, he’d been staying with Robert for a week. And then a week turned into two. 

So, he knew what had happened. Maybe it was _how_ that was more difficult to explain. 

How could he explain that a man he’d only met a few weeks ago had ended up living in his spare room? How could he explain that the same man had somehow become part of his, and his daughter’s, life? How could he explain that he had already started to develop feelings for that man?

He knew he must be an idiot. What sort of fool started to fall for someone they’d met a couple of weeks ago? A man who was still a mystery to him. 

He’d wondered if it was just because Aaron was fit and he’d been on his own for a long time. Anyone would be interested in a good-looking bloke suddenly being thrown into their path when they’d been flying solo for the last few years. Right? 

But then Robert had returned home from work, after he’d collected Lily from after-school club, at the end of that first week, and Aaron’s car had been gone and the house had been silent when they’d walked through the front door, and Robert’s heart had felt like it had plummeted down into his stomach. He’d known that Aaron wouldn’t stay forever, that their unusual little set-up wouldn’t last, but the reality of him being gone had felt like a punch to the stomach. 

And he’d known then. He’d known that he hadn’t wanted Aaron to leave. He’d known that he liked him. More than he probably should for two people who had spent such a short time together and who knew so little about one another. 

But it hurt that Aaron had gone. And it hurt even more that he hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye. After everything that Robert had done for him, and the fact that he’d (maybe naively) thought that they were getting on so well, and the way that Aaron seemed so comfortable with them, he had thought that he at least deserved an explanation and a goodbye. And surely Lily deserved that too. She’d been beside herself with happiness when Aaron had returned and stayed another night and she’d grown more and more fond of Aaron over the week that he’d been staying with them. Robert had cursed himself - he shouldn’t have let it happen. He shouldn’t have let Aaron stay and he certainly shouldn’t have let Lily start getting attached to him. And he’d told himself he was an idiot for letting himself get too attached as well. 

But then the front door had opened and Aaron had come in, with the usual cautiousness in the way he moved about, a look on his face like he was always waiting for something to happen. And Robert had been pretty sure his mouth had flapped open like some silly cartoon because Aaron hadn’t left and he’d been standing right there in the hallway looking at Robert in confusion. His heart, that had stuttered when he’d thought Aaron was gone, had started pounding wildly in his chest at the sight of him. 

Robert had pulled himself together and smiled at him and hoped he didn’t look as odd as he felt. Then he’d watched fondly as Aaron had walked into the living room and Lily had immediately launched into telling him all about her day at school and the papier-mâché mask she’d been making. 

And he’d known then, in that moment, that he was already in too deep. He didn’t want Aaron to leave. He’d known the man - at least as well as he could know someone as mysterious as Aaron was - for a week and he had already been disappointed at the thought of him being gone. He’d known he was in trouble. 

Because Aaron was still a total mystery to Robert. He’d revealed tiny snippets about himself, but that was one frustrating thing: Robert hardly knew anything about Aaron. Not really. 

He knew his family lived somewhere in Yorkshire, but that didn’t exactly narrow it down. And it certainly didn’t explain why he’d been passing through on such country roads instead of sticking to the motorway on that night when Robert had stumbled across him and his car, unless Aaron’s family lived in one of the villages near Emmerdale and, if that were the case, why hadn’t they made any attempt to come to him? He knew that Aaron had been working in Liverpool, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of heading back that way. And Robert had no idea what that work had been. 

He seemed pretty guarded and he certainly wasn’t talkative, but he was lovely with Lily and seemed to enjoy being around Robert. 

Robert just couldn’t figure him out. 

The thing was Aaron’s car had been fixed by the end of the day on Monday, but he just didn’t seem to be in any rush to leave. 

Robert had noticed how, despite Aaron’s claims to be on his way to visit his family, none of his family members had turned up to collect him from Emmerdale, or seemed to be all that bothered that he was stranded in a strange village for the weekend. Aaron had hardly mentioned them except when Robert had tried to discreetly find out what was going on and Aaron had merely told him that he’d let his mum know that he wouldn’t be making it and that was that. 

That Monday, that somehow seemed so long ago and yet the couple of weeks had flown by in a blur, Dan had popped over to tell them that the car was sorted and Aaron had thanked him and gone over to the garage to take a look, but then he’d returned to Robert’s house and not made any moves to actually leave. And Robert found that he wasn’t in any hurry for Aaron to go so, as the sky had started to turn dark, he’d found himself offering Aaron a place to stay - again. 

“Look, it’s...uh...it’s getting late. Why don’t you just stay here?” he’d suggested. 

Aaron had considered the idea for a few seconds and then nodded his agreement and murmured his thanks. 

And that had been that. 

Two weeks had gone by and he’d never left. 

Of course, he did leave the house at some point. Obviously, he did. Robert had no idea what Aaron got up to while he was at work and Lily was out at school for the day. He knew Aaron did go out - he hadn’t been at home a few times when Robert had got back since that first day when Robert had returned to find him missing and been so crushed - but he just had no idea where he disappeared off to, or what he did while he was out. 

He supposed it wasn’t really any of his business but he couldn’t help but feel curious. It was yet another mystery about Aaron. 

Robert was pottering about in the kitchen, when he felt Aaron’s presence behind him in the small room. It was amazing how used to having someone else around he’d become. And how he was already accustomed to the quiet way that Aaron would move around the house and suddenly just appear like he was on stealth mode or something.

“Alright?” Robert asked as he turned to look at him. 

Aaron scratched at his beard. 

“Um, I was thinking...I wondered if you fancied getting a takeaway tonight - my treat. You know, it’s the end of the week and I, uh, well, I just wanted to say thanks for letting me stay for the last couple of weeks.”

Robert smiled at him and nodded quickly. “Yeah, that’d be great - thanks.”

Aaron cleared his throat. Sometimes he seemed kind of nervous and Robert thought it was endearing somehow. Not that he’d ever say that out loud and not that he should even have been thinking things like that. He made himself focus on what Aaron was saying.

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Lily, just in case you don’t like her eating that kind of thing. You know, crappy, unhealthy pizza or whatever.”

Something fluttered in Robert’s stomach at the thoughtfulness of Aaron’s words. God, he’d turned into such a sap over this bloke. 

“Let’s see, shall we?” he said, with a grin. “Lily?” 

The little girl came skipping into the kitchen and looked at them expectantly.

“Lily, how do you fancy a takeaway for tea?” Robert asked her. 

“Really?” she said excitedly. “Are we having pizza from the shop in town?”

Robert let out a soft laugh. “Pizza?” he directed at Aaron. 

Aaron shrugged but smiled. “Pizza’s fine by me.”

“Aaron’s treating us,” Robert told Lily. 

She smiled up at Aaron and then quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “Thank you, Aaron. You’re the best,” she announced as she leaned against him.

Aaron’s eyes had widened a little at the gesture and he looked up at Robert as though he was checking that he hadn’t done something wrong. Robert just smiled at the pair of them and Aaron, slightly hesitantly, lifted his hand to rub Lily’s back gently.

“I think it’s your daddy that’s the best really,” he said quietly as though he were sharing a secret with Lily and Robert wasn’t standing right there listening. The words made something flutter in Robert’s stomach and he felt a little heat in his cheeks. “After all,” Aaron continued, “he’s letting us have it. He could’ve said no.”

Lily’s eyes widened much like Aaron’s had just moments ago and she looked genuinely concerned that her dad might have vetoed the pizza plan. “Thank you, Daddy,” she said as she rushed to him.

Robert lifted her up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Do you want to pick a film for us to watch?”

Lily leant back and gaped at him. “Can we sit on the sofa for tea?” she asked in wonder.

Robert saw Aaron biting down on his lower lip to hold back a laugh at Lily’s excitement over something so simple. He knew he was smiling like an idiot too. 

“Yes, I think we deserve an extra special treat tonight,” Robert told her. 

Lily let out an excited gasp and Robert put her down so she could run back into the living room and choose a film. He had a feeling it was going to be something Disney.

When he straightened up, Aaron was watching him with a soft smile on his face, but when their eyes met, he cleared his throat and looked away. 

“So, pizza it is, then,” he said. 

“Yeah, as long as that’s okay with you,” Robert told him. 

Aaron just nodded and Robert turned to open the drawer and grab the takeaway menu, grateful for the opportunity to be distracted. He needed to get a grip. His mind was running away with him and he was getting far too wrapped up in trying to interpret every little moment with Aaron. He shouldn’t be allowing himself to be so pleased about something as simple as getting a takeaway together. But there was something so domestic and easy about it - something that made him long for the family life of him and Lily and someone beside him. 

He turned around and handed the menu to Aaron, who was watching him closely again. Maybe he’d been paused in front of the open drawer thinking for too long. Maybe Aaron thought he’d lost the plot. 

“Lily will go for a Hawaiian,” he announced suddenly. 

Aaron pulled a face and Robert couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. 

“Yeah, I know. I usually have to share with her too.”

It was Aaron’s turn to smile as he shook his head. “Well, I’m sure we can stretch to an individual one for her and then I’ll save you from your kid’s weird food choices - we can share if you want.”

Robert smiled. “Yeah, okay.” Again he had to give himself a mental slap. Sharing a pizza was not a big deal, was not a symbol of any kind of affection, and was certainly not a sign that Aaron wanted to stay forever. 

He was doomed.

***

Lily had picked Toy Story. It might have been partly because she remembered it was supposedly Aaron’s favourite, but Robert had a sneaking suspicion that his daughter was angling after staying up to watch the sequel. She definitely got that little devious streak from him. 

They’d watched the film while munching their pizza. And Lily had gone to bed under protest. She’d tried her best to convince Robert that she wasn’t tired but her yawns had told a different story and Robert had herded her towards the stairs before she could argue too much. 

When he came back down, Aaron was washing up their plates. 

“She’s worried that we’re going to watch Toy Story 2 without her now she’s gone to bed,” Robert told him. “I had to promise her that we wouldn’t.”

Aaron huffed out a laugh. “I think we’ll be able to resist the temptation.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “I do hope you appreciate her film choice. I’m guessing she picked it partly because it’s your favourite.”

“It was very sweet of her. She’s great,” Aaron replied as he dried his hands. 

“Yeah, I like to think so,” Robert said with a smile. “Apart from the pizza choice obviously. And I don’t want you thinking I’m a terrible parent who feeds her rubbish all the time by the way.”

Aaron shook his head. “Of course I don’t. I’ve seen her ploughing her way through more vegetables than any other five year old over the last few weeks.”

Robert just hummed. “Beer?” he asked as he wandered to the fridge. 

Aaron seemed to hesitate for a moment as he thought about it, but then he nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

They made their way back to the living room and sat down on the sofa, Robert turning the television back on - not to a Disney movie - and both of them got comfortable on the sofa. Neither of them spoke for a while, but Robert had something on his mind - something he wanted to say to Aaron. He was kind of anxious about bringing it up though: he didn’t know how Aaron would react and the last thing he wanted was to make Aaron feel weird, or like Robert was overstepping somehow, and send him running for the hills. 

The thing was, he wanted to ask Aaron to stay. It was pretty obvious that Aaron didn’t have anywhere to go at the moment. Even if he really was in contact with his family, which Robert was beginning to doubt, he wasn’t exactly rushing to spend time with them and they hadn’t made any attempt to come to him either. He hadn’t mentioned needing to get to work or be anywhere at all, so Robert was convinced that he was in some sort of weird limbo where he didn’t know where he belonged anymore and he had no commitments and no reason to be anywhere so he was just drifting along. 

And that made Robert feel a little sorry for him, but also made him think about what Aaron’s story really was. And it also made him worry that any day, Aaron might just decide that he’d outstayed his welcome and leave. And Robert didn’t want that. It was daft, he knew that. He knew he was being a fool, allowing himself to feel like that, but he didn’t want Aaron to leave. He’d known him for a fortnight and he already felt attached to him. 

Maybe it was the circumstances of how they’d met. Maybe it was because it had all happened like something out of a movie and Robert felt like it was fate or something. He didn’t know, but he liked having Aaron around. He really wanted him to stay. 

Clearing his throat, he leaned forward and put his beer on the floor beside the sofa. Then he turned slightly on the sofa to look straight at Aaron. 

“Um, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he began and he saw some tension cross Aaron’s face. He seemed to be bracing himself for Robert’s words somehow, so Robert quickly continued. 

“Look, I don’t know your situation - not really. But I get the feeling you’re...I don’t know...between things at the moment,” he said as he waved his hand through the air. 

He wasn’t sure if this was coming out right or if Aaron was going to react positively or just tell him to keep his nose out of his business or maybe laugh in his face, but he had to say it. 

“So, um, if you want, you can stay here. For as long as you want.” He trailed off and waited. 

Aaron was just looking back at him and Robert couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. He hoped he hadn’t just ruined...whatever this odd little situation was. 

“You’ve been really good to me - letting me stay,” Aaron eventually said. “You really helped me out and...well, I really appreciate it. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

Robert swallowed. “I have to admit, I don’t really know what I was thinking that first night - you must think I’m nuts letting a stranger into my house like that. But...well, I’m glad I did. It’s been...I’ve liked having you around. And Lily does too. I guess it worked out pretty well. So, if you want to, you’re welcome to stay. I mean, it’s up to you...obviously. If you’ve got plans or whatever, that’s fine.” 

Suddenly, he was rambling - he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. 

Aaron gave him a tight smile. 

“I don’t...I don’t have ‘plans’. Not right now, anyway,” he said. He looked down at the beer bottle in his hand and scratched at the top of the label with his thumb nail. 

Robert watched him closely. His mouth had gone inexplicably dry as he waited for Aaron to say something more - to confirm one way or another whether he’d stay. 

Aaron cleared his throat again. 

“Well, I was thinking actually. That I owe you for letting me stay. And...if you really don’t mind me staying on, I need to start paying rent or something.”

Robert blinked at him in surprise. Had he really just accepted Robert’s offer? Was that it? Was he going to stay? 

“Rent?” he managed to ask, through the blur of questions and apparent fuzziness that had erupted in his head. 

Aaron nodded. “Well, yeah. I can’t expect to stay here for free, can I?”

“I, uh, I hadn’t really thought about it,” Robert replied. He felt a bit bewildered which was strange seeing as he’d asked Aaron if he wanted to stay in the first place and now he’d accepted the offer so easily he felt thrown off. He’d half-expected Aaron to jump up off the sofa and disappear. Of course he was glad he hadn’t, but he was surprised by how the conversation had gone. He was surprised at how easily Aaron seemed to have accepted. Maybe he really was just lost at the moment and desperate for somewhere to stay. Or maybe he liked being around Robert and Lily as much as they liked having him there. Robert really hoped it was the second of those two options. 

“Robert?” Aaron asked and Robert blinked at him as he shook himself from his own thoughts. 

“Hmm?” he asked as he looked at Aaron.

Lifting an eyebrow, Aaron gave him an odd little look. “I need to start paying rent,” he repeated. “I’m not scrounging off you and I don’t expect you to keep feeding me and letting me stay for free.”

He stood up suddenly and walked into the hallway where his jacket was hanging on the hooks next to Robert’s and Lily’s own coats. From where he was sitting, still on the sofa, Robert couldn’t see what he was doing, but he could hear him rustling about with something. When he reappeared, Aaron had something in his hand and he made his way to the sofa and sat back down. He held out his hand to Robert and he looked down and realised that Aaron was holding several twenty pound notes in his hand. 

“Take it,” Aaron said simply. 

“What?” Robert asked dumbly. 

“Back-pay for the last couple of weeks,” Aaron said bluntly.

“No...I...I wasn’t hinting that you needed to give me anything,” Robert said. Suddenly, he felt awkward and he couldn’t stop wondering where Aaron had produced so much cash from. It was yet another mystery about Aaron that Robert knew he had no hope of solving right now. 

Aaron huffed out a sigh. “I know. But I owe you.” He thrust the money towards Robert again.

Robert held up his hands. “I don’t want it. I was doing you a favour - I don’t expect any money for it. And besides you bought us tea tonight.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “A pizza doesn’t quite cover two weeks worth of you putting me up, does it?”

“I’m not accepting that money. We never said you’d be paying to stay here for the last couple of weeks so I can’t expect you to now.”

“Oh my god, you’re stubborn,” Aaron told him but he lowered his hand back to his lap. “Fine,” he eventually agreed. “But from now on, I’m paying rent whether you like it or not.”

“Alright,” Robert agreed. 

They fell into silence for a moment and then Aaron held out the money again. Robert was about to protest, but Aaron shook his head quickly.

“Next couple of weeks’ rent in advance.”

Releasing a sigh, Robert reached out to take the money from Aaron’s hand. There was the briefest of moments when their fingers brushed and Robert felt something pass between them. It was stupid really, a graze of their skin as they’d exchanged the notes, but he looked up at Aaron and their eyes met and he was sure that Aaron had felt it too. 

Aaron swallowed thickly and pulled his hand back, lowering his eyes. 

“You’re pretty stubborn yourself, by the way. In case no-one’s ever told you that,” Robert said to break the weird little moment and avoid any awkwardness, although his mind was racing again. 

Aaron huffed out a breath. “Me? Nah. I just like getting my own way.”

They were silent again until Aaron spoke quietly. 

“You are sure about this, aren’t you?”

Robert looked at him quickly and felt something inside him melt a little. Aaron went from mysterious and quiet to almost teasing to soft and unsure, and Robert wanted to get to know everything about him and figure out every mood and what caused it and just... _everything_ about the man sitting next to him. 

“I’m sure,” he replied quietly. “I want you to stay.”

He wondered what had possessed him to say something that seemed to hold so much meaning. He felt like he’d revealed too much somehow, even with such a simple statement. 

But Aaron’s tiny nod and the way he looked at Robert for just a moment, meant he couldn’t regret it. He just hoped he’d made the right decision and he wouldn’t end up regretting any of this. 


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been tough finding time to get this chapter done but I’ve done it! I hope it’s worth it and you enjoy. It’s a nice long one to make up for the delay.

They’d fallen into a routine. It was ridiculous how easily it had happened, really. 

Aaron’s whole life had been pretty turbulent - he’d spent a lot of time not knowing where he belonged - but suddenly he’d settled into the simplicity of a domestic arrangement with a man and his daughter in their cosy, little home. 

Aaron could have almost forgotten that the real world still existed outside Robert’s house. He was so immersed in the contentment of their little bubble that he could almost pretend that there weren’t people out there who were...unhappy with him, to say the least. 

He’d checked his second phone - the one he kept hidden in his room - a few times: turning it on briefly just to see if any more messages had come through after the one on the night he’d met Robert. There hadn’t ever been anything and he’d turned it off again and breathed a deep sigh and wondered if he’d got away with it. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he’d thought. He’d always shaken his head at those thoughts - that was definitely wishful thinking. 

But he was pretty sure that he was safe where he was. No-one would come looking for him in the sleepy little village. No-one would even think to. No-one knew him here. 

Sometimes when he looked at Robert and Lily, blissfully unaware of Aaron’s secrets, he felt guilty about being there. He felt terrible that he was bringing his problems into their lives, but he knew that he wouldn’t ever put them at risk. At the first sign of anyone coming after Aaron, he’d leave. He’d have to, despite the fact that it would hurt him to say goodbye to them. 

Because it wasn’t just the fact that he was safe in Emmerdale that kept him staying in the village: it was the feeling he got whenever he looked at Robert, or when they did something and Aaron felt like he was part of a family. He knew he shouldn’t allow himself to get too attached - the fantasy life he was living couldn’t last forever. But he was starting to want it to. 

And it was too late to try telling himself he needed to keep his distance: he was already in too deep. He’d let himself get close to them, let himself feel happy with them, and now he wanted to stay. 

Lily was adorable. She seemed to have accepted Aaron like he simply belonged there, like he was meant to be part of the family. Over the weeks that Aaron had been living with them, she’d just become more and more at ease with him - not that she’d ever seemed even remotely shy or nervous around him in the first place. She seemed to just act like he’d always been there and Aaron felt warm every time she smiled at him or held his hand or wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug. 

And then there was Robert. Robert who Aaron sometimes caught looking at him with heat in his eyes like he wanted to pin him up against the wall and kiss him senseless. Robert who watched him playing with Lily with such fondness in his eyes. Robert who had started teasing him about silly things and laughed brightly when Aaron did the same. Robert who had saved him and offered him a home without even realising it. 

So he wanted to stay with them. He wanted the almost-perfect life he could imagine with them. And he wanted Robert.God, he wanted him. 

He was kind of stuck on that front though. He could make a move, despite not knowing for sure if Robert was into blokes, and it could be amazing and everything would work out just as Aaron hoped it would and Robert would be just as into it as he was and they’d be so good together. When his thoughts ran away with him, that’s what he imagined. 

Or he could try something with Robert and find out it had all been in his head, Robert was just a decent bloke who’d let him stay because he didn’t want to see him out on the streets or something and Aaron had completely misread everything, and Aaron trying it on with him would make him change his mind and he’d kick Aaron out because he couldn’t stand the awkwardness or didn’t trust him anymore and then Aaron would be alone and homeless and running again. 

And it wasn’t just that that worried him: it was the thought of not being with Robert and Lily anymore. 

The content, settled, little bubble they were living in was almost too good to be true, but Aaron didn’t want to leave it. 

***

The routine was easy. It was like they’d been doing it for years. 

On a school day, Robert would get up first. Aaron usually stirred when he could hear him pottering about in the bathroom. He was a light-sleeper - had been for quite some time based on his experiences - so the slightly squeaky floorboard in the bathroom beneath Robert’s feet, and the sound of the taps turning on and off, woke him up, despite the fact that he knew Robert tried to be quiet. 

Robert would go through to Lily’s bedroom and Aaron would smile to himself as he laid in bed and listened to Robert murmuring softly to her and her sleepy responses. Then Robert would leave her room, go back into his own bedroom to get dressed and then head downstairs to make Aaron a tea and himself a coffee. 

That had become the norm after the first few mornings that Aaron had blearily made his way down the stairs just after Robert. 

Robert had blinked at him in surprise and then apologised for disturbing him. And Aaron had brushed his apology aside and said he didn’t mind and told Robert that he didn’t feel right lazing about in bed when Robert and Lily had to get up to face the day. Robert had frowned and said he didn’t mind but Aaron had insisted and Robert had made up for the early start by handing him a perfect brew. 

And the same thing had happened every morning since then. 

Once he was up, Aaron would make them all toast or porridge or cereal for breakfast while Robert went back upstairs to get Lily moving and washed and dressed ready for school. They’d come down and they’d all sit around the little dining table and eat their breakfast and talk about the day ahead or how they’d slept or whatever random thoughts spilled out of Lily’s mouth. Lily and Robert would head out for the day and Aaron would clear up their pots and tidy up and then do whatever it was he needed to do for the day, which often wasn’t all that much. 

It was Thursday when Aaron woke to a unusually quiet house. Even though Robert was usually as quiet as possible, he wasn’t able to move around in complete silence, so he always woke Aaron up. 

Checking his phone, he realised it was past Robert’s usual time to be up and about getting ready for the day. In fact, it was pretty late in comparison to their usual school morning timings. 

Pushing himself out of bed, Aaron shuffled to his bedroom door, opened it and peeredout onto the landing. There was no sign of life. A shiver of something horrible rushed through him: he was worried. This wasn’t right. 

Cautiously, he stepped out onto the landing and looked both ways, down to the bathroom and then back at Robert and Lily’s bedrooms. Both of their doors were closed. 

Moving to Robert’s room, he pressed his ear against the door and listened. There was no sound from within. Knocking gently, he waited. 

Nothing. 

He was beginning to panic. What if something had happened to Robert? He didn’t hesitate. He pushed the door open slightly and peered into the gloom. 

“Robert?” he called, almost afraid to be too loud, but at the same time knowing he might not be heard. 

There was a soft groan from the bed and Aaron’s heart did a little jump. He pushed the door a little further and took a step into the room. He could make out the shape of Robert beneath his duvet, but he wasn’t exactly jumping up out of bed in surprise at the intrusion or in panic at realising the time. 

“Robert? Are you okay?” Aaron asked. 

Robert groaned quietly again and, despite being relatively relieved, Aaron was still worried. Something was wrong with Robert. 

Maybe he was interfering where he shouldn’t and maybe he was overstepping by letting himself into Robert’s bedroom, but every instinct was telling him he needed to do something. Rounding the bed, he walked to the side and looked down at Robert. It was hard to make out much detail in the dimness of the room, but Robert’s eyes were squeezed shut and he had a hand against the side of his head as he lay in his bed. 

“Rob?” Aaron asked gently and wondered at himself for a moment. He’d never called Robert that before. “What’s wrong?” He’d leant a little closer as he spoke, trying to see if there was something physically wrong with Robert. 

Robert tried to open his eyes to look up at him, but he squeezed them shut again and winced. Another soft groan fell from his lips. 

“My head,” he murmured. “It’s...I’ve got...a migraine.” 

It sounded like an effort for him to force the words out and Aaron understood immediately. He’d never suffered himself but he knew people who had and he knew it was way worse than a standard headache. No wonder Robert hadn’t been able to get out of bed. 

He straightened up and frowned down at Robert. 

Suddenly, Robert tried to push himself up. Even in the darkness of the unlit room, Aaron could see how his face scrunched in protest. 

“Woah,” he said quietly. “What are you doing?” Gently, he placed his hand on Robert’s warm shoulder and steadied him.

“Got to...got to get Lily to school,” Robert told him. 

“Not like this you’re not,” Aaron said as he shook his head, despite the fact that Robert wasn’t looking at him because his eyes were still closed and he looked like he was focusing all of his energy on not vomiting.

“No choice. Vic’s away,” Robert breathed out. 

“You can hardly sit up - there’s no way you can drive her to school like this,” Aaron argued.

“Diane,” Robert muttered.

Aaron shook his head again. “I’ll take her,” he said and then wondered at himself again. He hoped he hadn’t crossed a line by offering. He hoped Robert wouldn’t be offended by him interfering. 

Squinting up at him, Robert said, “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Let me help,” Aaron insisted. 

Robert seemed to hesitate. 

“I promise I’ll look after her,” Aaron told him sincerely. “Do you trust me?”

Robert blinked at him and carefully nodded once. Warmth flooded through Aaron. 

“Daddy?” a little voice asked from the doorway. 

Tearing his eyes away from Robert, Aaron looked towards the door and saw Lily hovering there looking worried as she peered at her father.

“Hey, Lily,” Aaron said as he stepped towards her. “Your daddy’s got a bit of a headache this morning so he needs to stay in bed.”

Lily chewed on her lower lip as her eyes widened a little and she stared at Robert closely. It was obvious that she was concerned about her dad and the little frown on her face was something Aaron never wanted to see again. 

“But that means I get to take you to school today,” he added brightly, while trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. 

“Really?” Lily asked. She seemed to have perked up at the news, but her eyes still went back to Robert. She wandered further into the room and stopped beside the bed. With the utmost care, she gently touched Robert’s cheek and his eyes opened so he could look at her.

“Are you going to be alright, Daddy?” she asked softly. 

“I’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he replied equally as quietly. “I just need a rest and then I’ll be good as new.”

“Aaron’s going to take me to school,” she told him, as though Robert hadn’t had any say in the matter previously. 

“That’s good,” Robert said. “Be a good girl.”

She leant forward and pressed a kiss to Robert’s cheek and Aaron was sure his heart was about to burst at the sweetness of the moment. 

“Come on,” Aaron beckoned her. “We better get moving.” He was suddenly very aware of the fact that he had a big responsibility now and they were already running behind Robert’s usual schedule. 

Lily trotted out of the room and scurried across the landing to her own bedroom. 

“I’ll take care of her. Just try to get some sleep,” Aaron said.

Robert squinted at him and tried for a nod. “Thanks,” he muttered.

Aaron slipped out of the room and pulled the door closed quietly behind him. He took a deep breath: how hard could it be getting a five year old organised and out of the door? 

***

The lady in the office looked up at them as the door to the main entrance swooshed open. 

“Good morning, Lily,” she greeted. “We didn’t think you were coming in today when you didn’t arrive this morning.”

She was eyeing Aaron with a look of almost-suspicion. 

“Her dad’s not very well this morning so he asked me to bring her in. That’s why we’re running a bit late,” he told her. 

He was secretly quite impressed with himself: he’d managed to get Lily organised and into the car all by himself and they’d made it to school just twenty minutes late. Seeing as they’d been late getting up in the first place, he didn’t think that was bad going. 

“Oh, well thank you,” the woman said. “Could you sign her in on the machine?”

Aaron did as he was asked as Lily stood beside him twirling around on the spot. Another woman appeared at the door leading through from reception into the school and called Lily’s name. 

Aaron handed Lily her PE bag and her book bag (which, again, he was congratulating himself on remembering) and she flung her arms around him. 

“Bye, Aaron,” she said brightly. “Look after Daddy.”

“I will do, Lils,” he said as he ran his hand over her hair. He hadn’t done a bad job of tying it up into two slightly lop-sided pigtails. Not bad for a first attempt but not a patch on Robert’s efforts. 

“See you later,” she called as she skipped off to the woman who took her hand and led her through the door. 

Aaron watched her go and glanced up at the woman in the office who was looking back at him, obviously scrutinising him. Part of him wanted to tell her to stop being so nosey as she was clearly trying to figure him out, but he knew it wouldn’t go down well with Robert if he got in trouble for having a go at the staff at Lily’s school. Besides it wasn’t like he needed to draw attention to himself. 

With one last defiant look in her direction, he walked back out of reception and headed back to his car. 

***

When he’d got back home, Aaron had immediately gone up to check on Robert. He’d found him still in bed, fast asleep. Even though his eyes had been closed, Aaron had been able to see the frown on Robert’s face, as though he were still in pain, and his heart had gone out to him. He’d quietly closed the door behind him and headed back downstairs. 

A little while later, he heard movement upstairs and decided to go back up. He found Robert sitting on the edge of his bed, rather grey in colour and still looking pained.

“Was Lily okay?” Robert asked as soon as he saw Aaron.

“Yeah, she was good as gold,” Aaron replied. “Dropped her off no problem. We were a bit late but I explained what had happened this morning.”

“Thank you,” Robert said quietly. 

“No worries,” Aaron replied easily, and he meant it. It hadn’t exactly been a hardship and he loved spending time with Lily. Besides, she was very entertaining and came out with some extremely interesting things that he planned to share with Robert when he was feeling better. 

“No,” Robert said and he looked up at Aaron seriously. “I really appreciate it. I’m glad you’re here.”

Maybe it was the pain that had left him vulnerable and open and saying more than he usually might, but Aaron drew in a breath at the words. He hoped Robert meant it: he thought he did. 

He cleared his throat to push past the moment that he didn’t wanted to read too much in to. He almost didn’t dare examine the words too closely. 

“Um, I stopped off at the pharmacy after I’d dropped Lily at school.” He held out his hand to show Robert the box of tablets he was holding. “The bloke said these were the best-sellers for migraines.”

Robert glanced at the box and then blinked up at him. There was a long moment where Aaron waited for something. He felt like Robert was about to say something and then he just reached up and took the tablets from Aaron’s hand. 

“Thank you,” he murmured. “That’s...really thoughtful of you.”

Aaron chewed on his lower lip and then started backing away. “I’ll...um...I’ll let you get some more rest.”

He didn’t wait for Robert to say anything else before he walked out and pulled the door shut behind him again. Moving a little further away, he stopped and leaned back against the wall. Gently, he thumped his head off it once and closed his eyes for a moment. 

Even feeling like crap, Robert still managed to make Aaron feel...things. Spending time with him, _living_ with him, and sharing all these moments with him was beginning to make Aaron’s heart do funny things. The way Robert had just looked at him, the way he’d looked on the verge of saying something that Aaron definitely wanted to hear, was just making him imagine them together more and more. 

He was falling for Robert. It was stupid and foolish and dangerous, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted him, and he wanted to stay with him and Lily forever. 

***

It was close to three in the afternoon when Robert finally made his way downstairs. He still didn’t look his usual self but he looked more alive than he had that morning. 

“How’re you feeling?” Aaron asked.

“Still got a fuzzy head. Feels like my brain’s bruised,” Robert told him as he sat down at the opposite end of the sofa. He rubbed his forehead as he did so. “Got to go and fetch Lily from school.”

“Well, you can’t drive while you’re still feeling like that. You should stay here,” Aaron said. “I’ll go get her.”

Robert shook his head slightly. “You can’t go to get her on your own. You’re not on the contact list and I need to fill in the form to add you - they’re dead funny about all that stuff.” He sighed heavily like the whole thing was just an extra problem he didn’t have the energy to face. 

“Yeah, I get it.” Aaron nodded. “They have all their safeguarding stuff to stick to.”

Robert looked up and blinked at him. He just stared for a long moment like he was trying to work something out. He was probably trying to figure out how Aaron knew anything at all about school’s safeguarding procedures. Quickly, he moved the conversation on. 

“Okay, so why don’t I drive and you can come along? Then you’re there to meet her and the school won’t get funny.”

Robert nodded once. “Alright. That’d be good. Thank you - you’ve been great today.”

Aaron rolled his eyes at the words: he’d always shied away from any sort of compliment. 

“Stop thanking me,” he said gruffly. “It’s fine.”

Robert offered him a tight smile before he pushed himself up from the sofa. “Come on then.”

***

Aaron wandered into the kitchen and paused in the doorway. Robert was busy, as usual, pottering about with his back to the door, and Aaron couldn’t help but smile fondly as he watched him. 

“It would appear your daughter is extremely good at eavesdropping, so you might wanna watch that,” Aaron said with a wry smirk as Robert turned to face him. 

“What are you on about?” Robert asked with a confused frown. 

It had been two days since Robert’s migraine and he was fully recovered. Aaron had been saving this conversation for the appropriate moment. 

“Well, when I took her to school the other morning, she was asking me about being your friend and she said she was really happy that I was. She thinks you need someone to look after you and be your friend.”

Robert’s eyes had widened a little and he looked down at his hands as he fiddled with the tea-towel he was holding. 

Aaron could tell he was embarrassed about his five-year-old telling people that basically he was pretty lonely, and he almost changed his mind about adding the next part. But part of him really wanted to see how Robert would react. 

“And then she told me that she heard Auntie Vic saying you needed to get laid.”

Robert’s head snapped up and his eyes practically popped out of his head, his mouth flapped open in utter horror, probably at the thought of his child firstly overhearing something like that and then repeating it. Mortified probably covered how he was feeling. 

Aaron supposed his massive grin wasn’t helping the situation. 

“Oh my god,” Robert said as he covered his face with his hands. 

Aaron let out a laugh. “Don’t worry too much, I’m pretty sure she has no idea what that means.”

“I am going to kill Victoria,” Robert ground out. He lowered his hands and his face was flushed and he could hardly meet Aaron’s eyes. 

“I...I don’t...how did she even overhear something like that?” Robert asked and it seemed like he was thinking out loud. 

“Sounds like she heard Vic talking to Amy when she was over there.” He took pity on Robert. “But...I think the main thing is she’s worried that you’re lonely.”

Robert drew in a breath. He leaned back against the kitchen counter. 

“She...she doesn’t...” He sighed heavily. “I was going to say she doesn’t understand, but maybe she understands more than I give her credit for. I haven’t really had anyone over here for a long time - apart from Vic and Diane and a few people from the village. Don’t suppose she thinks I’ve got many friends. And I haven’t...I haven’t dated anyone for a while...ages really. I haven’t...I’m good at making excuses about why, but I know it’s because I’m too scared to bring someone new into her life.” He sighed again and Aaron felt like the conversation had moved from teasing fun to something more serious. He watched Robert closely. 

“My last relationship...it didn’t end so well. We weren’t even together that long, but he...he was...he turned out to be not a very nice guy.” 

Robert trailed off and looked down at his feet. Aaron only had a moment to absorb the fact that Robert had just told him he was into blokes before he felt himself tense at the knowledge that Robert’s ex had turned out to be some sort of arsehole. 

“I’d introduced him to Lily because I thought it was going somewhere, but it didn’t take long before he started to show his true colours. He flipped one night and...well, we had a massive argument.” Robert rubbed at his wrist, like he was subconsciously soothing some past hurt and Aaron felt his blood boil. “I kicked him out - straight away,” Robert added quickly as he looked back up. “There was no way I was letting someone like that be anywhere near my daughter. But Lily’s old enough to remember. I thought she’d slept through it, but she came downstairs crying because she’d heard the shouting. I’d never put her through that again. So...I guess I’ve just not tried to find anyone. It’s been easier just keeping it as the two of us.”

Aaron didn’t say anything for a long time. Neither of them did. He hadn’t expected Robert to tell him any of that, but he was glad he had. He hated that Robert had effectively cut himself off from dating because of one dickhead, but he could understand it. He knew that Robert would do whatever he could to put Lily first, even if that meant sacrificing his own potential happiness. It also made him all the more grateful that Robert had opened up his home and his life to him. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Aaron said sincerely. What else could he say? He’d quite like to hunt down Robert’s ex and teach him a lesson, but he supposed that wasn’t helpful and probably wouldn’t change anything for Robert. 

“Why...why did you let me stay?” he asked suddenly. He wondered what Robert had seen in him that night. Why he’d trusted him enough to let him stay. 

Robert gazed at him for a long moment. 

“I don’t know,” he eventually said. “I just...I guess I thought you seemed like a decent bloke and you needed help.”

Aaron nodded. “Well, I’m glad you took a chance on me. And that you let me stay.”

“Lily helped me make that decision,” Robert said. “She...she likes you. It’s good for her to have some other company apart from me. I mean...she’s got her friends obviously. And there’s Vic and Diane, but...she likes having you here.”

Aaron swallowed thickly. “And what about you?”

A tiny smile tugged at Robert’s mouth. “I suppose I like having you here too.”

Aaron smiled back. He felt his heart swell a little. 

“Brew?” Robert asked suddenly as he turned back to the kettle and busied himself with mugs. 

“Um, yeah, please,” Aaron replied. He felt thrown by the abrupt change in the conversation. They’d definitely just shared a moment. But maybe that was all it was meant to be. He wouldn’t push. He wouldn’t put Robert in an awkward position. Maybe he’d just have to settle for being Robert’s friend.

***

Clutching the milk he’d collected from David’s, Aaron walked through the front door to the unusual sound of Robert speaking sternly to Lily. She wasn’t an angel - no child was - but it was very rare for her to be told off so firmly. 

“Lily, I’m very disappointed in you. You know you don’t do things like that,” he heard Robert saying. 

“It’s not fair!” she argued. “He’s horrible.”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t hurt other people - no matter what.”

Aaron walked into the kitchen to find Robert standing shaking his head at Lily who was facing him with her arms folded and an angry scowl on her face. 

“I don’t want to miss my playtime. It’s not fair,” she repeated and the annoyance and building anger was apparent in her tone. 

“Mrs Hobbs is right. You’ve done something wrong and you have to learn that there are consequences for making bad choices.”

“I hate Mrs Hobbs,” Lily muttered. “And I hate Dylan.”

“Lily, you shouldn’t say things like that. Tomorrow, at school, you need to apologise to Dylan.”

Lily’s scowl deepened. “I won’t!”

“Yes, you will, or there’ll be no playing out for a week,” Robert said and it sounded like he thought he’d played his trump card. 

Lily’s little hands clenched in anger and she glared at Robert. 

“I wish I had a mummy so I could go and live with her!” she shouted at Robert with all the rage someone so small could muster.

Aaron watched as Robert flinched slightly at the words and his heart ached for him in that moment. 

Then Lily’s bottom lip wobbled and she spun around, rushed past Aaron, and fled up the stairs. 

As soon as she’d gone, Robert’s shoulders slumped and he leant back against the counter. 

“You alright?” Aaron asked carefully. 

“Yeah,” Robert said with a slight nod. He seemed quiet and was obviously a little hurt by Lily’s anger, even though it was clear she didn’t mean what she’d said.

“What happened?” Aaron asked as he put the milk in the fridge. 

Letting out a sigh, Robert frowned. “She’s been in trouble at school. She kicked one of the boys - like properly booted him one.”

“Why?” Aaron asked. 

Robert blinked at him for a moment. “She wouldn’t say. Just said he deserved it.”

“Not like her,” Aaron remarked. Lily was a sweet kid. Aaron had seen her sulk a few times but never known her to get angry or be aggressive to anyone. And as far as he knew, she’d never been in trouble like that at school before. 

“I know,” Robert sighed. “I don’t know what’s got into her. I’ll talk to her when she’s calmed down a bit.”

Aaron chewed on his lower lip. “Do you want me to talk to her? I don’t want to step on your toes obviously and tell me to keep my nose out if you want. Just, you know...”

“Yeah,” Robert interrupted him. “Maybe a different face is what she needs right now. She’s obviously angry with me. Maybe she’ll tell you what’s going on.”

Aaron left Robert in the kitchen, feeling bad for him and noting how his posture had slumped after what Lily had angrily shouted at him. He had no doubt that she didn’t mean a word of it: he’d never seen a child who adored their parent as much as Lily loved Robert. 

He found her in her bedroom lying on her bed with tears still on her cheeks. 

“Hey Lils,” he said softly. “Can I come in?”

She nodded and she looked so dejected that Aaron wanted to scoop her up into a hug. Instead he perched on the end of her bed and turned to face her. He took a deep breath.

“D’you know, when I was little, I just lived my dad too?”

Lily sniffled. “You did?”

“Yeah. My mum...she wasn’t ready to look after me so she left and I stayed with my dad.”

“Did you miss her?” Lily asked quietly. 

Aaron nodded. “Yeah, I did. And sometimes...sometimes I just wished I was with her so much. But that was because...because I wasn’t lucky like you are. My dad didn’t look after me like your daddy does.”

“He’s really cross with me,” Lily muttered.

“He’s disappointed that you did something unkind. But he still loves you. I don’t know many children as lucky as you. Your daddy sings to you and reads you bedtime stories every night and he loves you so, so much. You’re a very lucky girl, Lily.”

“I don’t want him to be disappointed in me,” she whispered. 

“Then maybe you should tell him why you kicked Dylan. Maybe then he’ll understand why you did it. And that doesn’t mean he won’t be disappointed that you hurt someone, but it might help a bit.”

Lily watched him thoughtfully for a long time, then she crawled over to him and leaned her head against his arm. She sighed deeply like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. 

“Why did you kick him?” Aaron asked quietly. 

Lily sighed again and then looked up at Aaron. 

“We were doing our learning and Mrs Hobbs asked us to draw our family. And then when we were showing our pictures, Ella said she lived with her two mummies and Dylan was being mean and laughing at her. He said we were all supposed to have a mummy and a daddy. Mrs Hobbs said that families were all different and I put my hand up and said that boys could love boys and girls could love girls because that’s what daddy said. And then when we went out to dinner time, Dylan was being horrible to me. He said I was weird because I didn’t have a mummy and because I lived with Daddy and it was just us two and that boys couldn’t love other boys because that was disgusting. So I kicked him.” 

She blinked up at Aaron as she finally seemed to draw in a breath after her explanation and he felt something a lot like pride swell in his chest. She wasn’t even his child and he felt so proud of the fact that she’d stood up for her friend and stood up for her family and stood up for what she thought was right against a kid who sounded like a bit of a bully. 

Aaron smiled softly at her and wrapped his arm around her back drawing her closer. “I think you should tell your daddy what happened,” he said gently. 

Lily blinked up at him, her eyes a little red from crying, and nodded seriously. 

“Come on,” Aaron said as he carefully pushed himself up and held out his hand to her. She grabbed it immediately and let Aaron lead her back downstairs. 

***

Robert slumped down onto the sofa beside Aaron, leant his head back and closed his eyes. He blew out a long breath. 

Lily had explained to her dad what had happened at school and Robert had listened carefully. He’d glanced at Aaron during the story and Aaron had seen the various emotions flash across his face, probably the same ones that Aaron had felt himself as he’d listened to Lily: annoyance at the little brat who had been so horrible to Lily and her friend; pride at the fact that she’d stood up for herself; love for the little girl sitting there telling the story. 

“And I’m sorry I said that I wished I had a mummy to live with. I don’t want to live anywhere else. I want to be with you,” Lily had added on the end of her story and her voice had hiccuped and she’d started crying again. Robert hadn’t hesitated to pull her into a hug and she’d curled up on his knee and cried against his shoulder. 

Robert had kissed the top of her head and talked to her quietly and Aaron had decided to give them some space to talk it all through. He’d stood up and stroked Lily’s hair and patted Robert’s shoulder before heading upstairs out of the way for a bit.

At bedtime, he’d heard Robert and Lily singing Lion King songs in the bathroom as she got her bath so he’d hoped things were sorted. He’d made his way back down to the living room to wait for Robert. 

Aaron sat on the sofa and waited for Robert to talk. He got the feeling he needed to. 

“When I first brought her home, I didn’t know what to do,” Robert eventually said as he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. “I suddenly had this tiny baby and I was on my own and I didn’t have a clue. The first few months were a disaster, I’m sure. I didn’t know how to be a dad and I was so sure I was going to let her down.” He finally lifted his head and looked at Aaron. “And I promised her I wouldn’t. I promised her I’d do the best job I could; I’d be the best dad I could.”

He let out a sigh. 

“I’ve made a right mess of this tonight,” he said as he rubbed his hand over his face. “I handled it all wrong: I didn’t even ask her to explain her side of the story properly. She wouldn’t tell me and I just thought she was being stubborn because she was in trouble and I got it wrong. And I told her off. Instead of thinking that this was totally out of character for her and knowing there must’ve been more to it, I told her off.”

He looked utterly miserable and Aaron shuffled closer to him.

“You’re not a mind-reader, Robert. You couldn’t have known what had happened today or why. You’re not perfect. No-one is. You’ll make mistakes sometimes, but you’ve put it right and she’s okay.”

“I was going to make her apologise to that nasty little bully,” Robert said angrily and Aaron was pretty sure the anger was directed more at himself than a kid in Lily’s class. 

“Yeah, but now you know what’s happened so you can deal with it properly.”

“I’m going into the school tomorrow to speak to Mrs Hobbs. I’m guessing she doesn’t know what really happened either. And I’m not saying that Lily shouldn’t have some consequences for hurting someone, but that Dylan kid needs something too.” Robert blew out a breath again. “Good job you’re here to talk to her. If it was left up to me, we’d probably still be at a stalemate.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Aaron told him. 

“But what if I’m messing everything up? What if I’m getting it all wrong?”

Robert seemed so genuinely distressed that Aaron couldn’t bear it. He reached out and laid his hand on Robert’s arm wanting to offer him some comfort, some reassurance that he was good enough. 

“Hey, you’ve done a bloody brilliant job and you’ll keep doing a brilliant job. You’ve brought her up on your own and she’s a happy, smart, wonderful little girl. Lily’s lucky to have you. She’s amazing and that’s because of you.” Aaron paused and swallowed thickly. 

Slowly, Robert looked up at him and their eyes met. 

“ _You’re_ amazing,” Aaron murmured. 

Robert gazed at him and his mouth fell open a little. 

Aaron was so aware of how close they were. And then Robert moved. He closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against Aaron’s in a soft kiss. 

Aaron’s eyes fell closed and he kissed Robert back. He felt Robert’s hand cup his cheek carefully and then his fingers slide into his hair. 

He reached out too. His hand settling at the side of Robert’s neck where he could feel his pulse thudding against his thumb.

Robert’s tongue traced his lips and they parted as they moved together. He’d wanted this for a long time: he almost couldn’t believe it was happening. 

Eventually, they parted and Robert smiled a little shyly at him. 

“I think you’re pretty amazing too,” he said quietly. “Just in case you hadn’t noticed,” he added with a smile.

Aaron huffed out a soft laugh and Robert pulled him back in for another kiss. 


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There may be trouble ahead...

“Aaron,” Robert murmured when he felt the other man stirring awake beside him. He snuggled up against Aaron’s back and draped his arm over his side, pulling him closer. Aaron sighed softly and Robert whispered to him again. “Aaron, can you hear that?”

He felt a little tension make Aaron’s body stiffen as he twisted his head back towards him slightly. 

“What?” Aaron asked quietly. “What is it?”

“Silence,” Robert said with a smile as he pressed a kiss to Aaron’s shoulder. “That is the sound of Lily not being awake yet. But we are,” he added as he pushed his hips forward against Aaron’s arse, demonstrating his keenness to make the most of the moment. 

Aaron let out a soft laugh, immediately relaxing in Robert’s arms. “You’re an idiot,” he told him, before he shuffled around and rolled over to face Robert. 

Robert pounced on him, pushing him back against his pillow and leaning over him.

“An idiot with needs,” he said seriously. “An idiot who would like to make the most of the opportunity to have his wicked way with you before we get interrupted.”

“Again?” Aaron said with another laugh. “You do remember having your wicked way last night, right? That wasn’t something I imagined.”

Robert silenced his teasing by kissing him. They didn’t have time for such silliness: Lily would wake up and come to get them at any moment and time was precious. He loved his daughter more than anything, but she sure knew how to time her interruptions. 

As if on cue, there was a little voice from across the landing, thundering footsteps, and then the door was flying open.

Robert just had time to roll off Aaron and lie back on his own side of the bed before Lily came skipping in, still in her pyjamas and clutching her teddy. He glanced over at Aaron who was a little red in the cheeks and clearly holding back a smirk before he greeted her brightly. 

“Morning, sweetheart,” he said.

“Morning, Daddy,” she replied. “Morning, Aaron.”

“Good morning, Lils,” Aaron said. 

Robert’s heart swelled a little at the simple joy of the domestic moment. Despite Lily, yet again, unwittingly interrupting their time alone, he couldn’t help but bask in the feeling it gave him: Lily being so at ease with the two of them and their relationship; Aaron’s fondness for her and the little abbreviation of her name that he always used; the way it felt like they were a little family. It wasn’t Robert and Lily plus Aaron anymore - it felt like they were meant to be together.

The first morning that Lily had found them in bed together had caused panic for Robert that, when he looked back on it, he supposed shouldn’t have even been an issue. 

She’d come into the room just as Robert and Aaron had been lying side by side quietly talking, and Robert had silently cursed himself for kind of forgetting that that was even something that might happen. He’d been so wrapped up in Aaron and what had finally happened between them and the morning-after glow that he’d momentarily forgotten that his child was likely to appear at any moment. 

They’d both scrambled to sit upright as the door had opened and then pulled the duvet up over their bare chests. Robert had remembered that they were both naked under the covers and desperately hoped that Lily wouldn’t decide to jump up onto the bed. 

Instead of doing anything like that though, her little face had frowned up at the two of them. 

“Oh no,” she’d said. “Is Aaron poorly?”

“Uh, what? Um, no,” Robert had managed to stutter out. His mind had been racing about how they were going to explain what she’d walked in on - it hadn’t been how he’d planned on telling her that he and Aaron were together - but her question had thrown him off. 

“Why’s he in your bed then, Daddy?” Lily had asked, confusion all over her face. “I sleep in the big bed when I’m poorly.”

“Um, well, me and Aaron, we um, we decided to have a sleepover,” Robert had said and he’d cringed a little at how stupid it sounded and hadn’t dared look at Aaron in case he’d been laughing at him. 

Lily had scrunched up her nose. “A grown-up sleepover?”

Robert had felt himself getting warm and his cheeks flushing and he’d wanted to wind the clock back so he could have been more prepared for the conversation. So much for sitting Lily down to talk to her about it. 

“Yes,” he’d said simply. “A grown-up sleepover.” 

“Are you best friends?” Lily had asked as she’d continued looking between the two of them. 

Robert had looked over at Aaron then and found him smiling softly back at him. 

“Yeah, I...um...I think we are,” he’d said with a nod and a smile at Aaron before he’d looked back at Lily. 

“Okay,” Lily had replied easily like she had been quite satisfied by that answer. “Are we going swimming today?” 

And, with that, one of the most awkward moments of Robert’s life had been over. 

Lily had just accepted things as they were and Robert had sat her down later that weekend and explained that he and Aaron were actually more than best friends - although that had been a little scary for him to admit, and he’d been worried about making Aaron commit to a label for their relationship in case it was too soon for him, but known he’d needed to so that Lily wouldn’t get confused. He had been juggling a lot of people’s feelings, including his own, but Aaron had reassured him that he was more than happy to make them official so he’d told Lily that Aaron was his boyfriend. Her eyes had lit up and she’d squealed a little in excitement before hugging her daddy tightly. 

“I really like Aaron,” she’d whispered to Robert as she’d sat on his knee with her arms around his neck. 

“I really like him too,” Robert had whispered back. 

***

“Don’t let her pick up too many sweets,” Robert said into Aaron’s ear.

Aaron leant back and lifted his eyebrow. “What do you take me for?”

“A soft touch,” Robert replied with a smile. “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”

Aaron shook his head but couldn’t actually argue. 

“Come on, Aaron,” Lily said as she tugged on his hand. She was excited about getting some sweets before they headed to the cinema. 

Robert gave him a knowing look before he left them to get the sweets and he headed down the aisle towards the pasta. He’d promised to do them one of his special pasta dishes for tea so he was in charge of buying the grown-up items while Aaron was off with Lily selecting sweets and chocolate. 

It didn’t take him long before he was making his way back to the sweet selection but when he got there he slowed to a stop to watch as Aaron picked Lily up to help her reach the bag of Maltesers she was after. As he set her back on the floor, he tickled her sides and she giggled brightly before she wrapped her arms around Aaron to hug him. 

“Thank you,” she said as she beamed up at him. 

“Oh she’s just the sweetest little girl,” a lady nearby remarked to Aaron.

He nodded and smiled. “Oh, thank you. Yeah, she’s pretty amazing.”

“How old is she?” the lady asked. 

“Um, she’s five,” Aaron replied.

“Five and a half!” Lily told the lady and then she caught sight of Robert behind them and skipped over to him waving her chocolates. “Daddy! I got your favourite!”

Robert grinned at her and held out his hand for her to give him a high-five. “Good work, sweetheart.”

They wandered closer and Aaron smiled at him softly. The woman who had been asking about Lily, beamed at the three of them and actually put her hand over her heart. 

“Oh, you are just the loveliest little family,” she said. “Sorry, I hope you don’t think I’m being a daft old woman. My nephew and his husband are starting the surrogacy process and seeing you three has just got me all emotional.” She actually fanned at her cheeks before she waved her hand at them. “You must both be so proud of your little girl. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. It was lovely chatting to you.”

“Well, thank you,” Robert said, not really sure it could be classed as ‘chatting’ when the woman hadn’t really given them a chance to say anything, but he didn’t mind. She’d seemed kind enough and he couldn’t feel anything but pride whenever anyone said anything positive about Lily. “Bye,” he added. 

“Bye!” Lily called out to her and waved and the woman made a little gasping sound like it was sweetest thing she’d ever seen before she turned and walked off down the aisle. 

Robert let out a quiet laugh and turned to Aaron, but he found him looking almost uncomfortable and Robert felt his heart do a horrible little stutter. Maybe all of that had been too much: the woman assuming that they were a family and they were Lily’s parents might have been a step too far for Aaron. Maybe he wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment, or even anyone simply hinting at it. 

“Hey,” he said quietly as he touched Aaron’s arm. “Are you alright?”

Aaron blinked up at him and nodded. “Um, yeah. I’m, um, I’m sorry about that...I guess she just assumed and I should’ve corrected her but I didn’t know what to say once she’d started going on. I hope you don’t mind.”

“What d’you mean?” Robert asked with a frown.

“That woman...thinking I was Lily’s dad or something.” Aaron looked down at his feet as he fiddled with the handle on the basket he was holding. “Don’t want you to think I was overstepping. She just caught me off guard and...yeah, well, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to...”

“Aaron,” Robert interrupted. “Shut up.”

Aaron’s head snapped back up and his eyes narrowed as he glared at Robert before Robert leant forward and kissed him firmly in the middle of the supermarket aisle. 

When Robert pulled away, he couldn’t help but smile at the slightly dazed expression on Aaron’s face as he blinked up at Robert. 

“I don’t mind what she thought,” he said. “If she thought we were a family, why would that bother me?” He took a deep breath. “We are, aren’t we? Or at least, I like to think we sort of are.” That was as close to any sort of declaration that Robert had made and his heart was thudding in his chest and he almost rolled his eyes at himself having this conversation in the middle of Tesco. 

Aaron clearly didn’t know how to respond. His mouth flapped open a few times like he might speak, but he didn’t manage any words. And somehow that didn’t panic Robert. He didn’t think it meant that Aaron didn’t agree. 

“Are we going now?” Lily asked suddenly from beside them. She’d clearly had enough of standing around watching the two of them be soppy. 

Aaron cleared his throat. “Huh, yeah. Don’t want to miss the start of the film.”

Lily grabbed his hand and started leading Aaron along the aisle towards the tills. Robert hesitated for just a moment before he followed them. 

They really were adorable. They were the best things in Robert’s life. Aaron still looking adorably flustered and Lily skipping along, clutching her bag of sweets in one hand and Aaron’s hand with her other. 

Robert was a little bit in love. 

Because he was. He’d known for a while but hadn’t said anything to Aaron yet. He was scared to admit it out loud. Because there were still things he didn’t know. He still didn’t know where Aaron had come from or where he’d really been going on that night when Robert had stumbled across him. And maybe he was an idiot, or maybe he was crazy, but he was too afraid to ask. And maybe that made him a fool because he’d fallen in love with a man that, in reality, he actually knew very little about. All he knew was the Aaron that he’d welcomed into his home: the Aaron that looked at him like he was everything; the Aaron that doted on Lily like she was the most precious thing in the world. And despite knowing that there was more to know, that there were things he really needed to ask, he kept pushing them to the side, ignoring the secrets that Aaron had, pretending it didn’t matter. Because surely if he loved Aaron, that was all that mattered. ‘But then,’ a little voice inside his head whispered, ‘if that’s all that matters, why haven’t you told him how you feel yet?’ And, like so many other things to do with Aaron, Robert pushed that to the back of his mind. 

He was happy. They were all happy. Why ruin it? 

***

“Look, if you don’t want to go, just say,” Robert said. He was trying to keep the irritation out of his voice, but Aaron had been off all day - well, at least since he’d mentioned them actually going out for a date. 

Lily was staying at Diane’s for the night and being appropriately spoiled by her step-grandmother, so Robert had jumped on the opportunity to invite Aaron out for aproper evening, just the two of them, an actual date, because they’d never really done that. They’d gone straight from strangers to housemates to friends to boyfriends without ever doing the standard dating thing and Robert had thought it would be nice. He’d obviously thought wrong, or at least Aaron didn’t agree, because as soon as he’d suggested going to the restaurant in Leeds that Vic had been banging on about for weeks, Aaron had practically shut down. He’d made some lame excuse about needing to go out somewhere and disappeared for a couple of hours. When he’d returned, he’d been quiet and Robert had asked him about their evening again, but Aaron had merely shrugged and avoided eye-contact and gone off up the stairs. 

When he’d finally come back down, Robert had decided he’d had enough. If Aaron didn’t want to go out with him, he wanted the truth. He couldn’t help but feel a little hurt at the snub, but he also couldn’t carry on wondering what was wrong. He didn’t think Aaron had any problem with people seeing them out and about as a couple, but maybe he was wrong. 

Aaron had stopped in his tracks and stared at him and Robert was glad that he wasn’t trying to walk away from him like he had been all day. 

He sighed heavily. “I...I’m not going to force you. I just thought it’d be nice. But if you don’t want to...if you don’t want to go out with me, like that, it’s fine. I’m a big boy - I can handle it.”

Immediately, Aaron shook his head. “God, no. It’s not like that. I’m not...embarrassed or anything.” He ran his hand through his hair and chewed on his lip. “I just, um, I just...I’m not really that keen on going out in the city.”

Robert frowned. That seemed a bit...odd. 

“But...didn’t you live in Liverpool for ages?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Aaron said with a nod and a grim little smile, which seemed far too serious somehow. “And that was plenty. I just...I’m not into all that busy city life.”

Robert frowned at him again. He thought back over their time together and he supposed it all fit. Aaron had always avoided going anywhere too busy or crowded. When Robert had taken Lily to Leeds for the day as a treat, Aaron had made an excuse about why he couldn’t join them. It had even taken an effort to get him to agree to go into Hotten with him at first, but eventually he’d tagged along. But he’d never seemed particularly at ease and maybe this was all linked. Maybe he had some sort of phobia that Robert wasn’t aware of. Maybe he’d been through something horrible and crowds unsettled him. 

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Aaron offered quietly. 

And that made Robert feel awful. “Hey, no. It’s fine. Honestly.” He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Aaron. “I just thought you didn’t want to be seen with me,” he said with a little laugh to try to lighten the mood. 

“Well, you are kind of funny looking,” Aaron mumbled against his shoulder. 

“Ha bloody ha,” Robert said as he pulled back and narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Aaron asked quietly. 

“Absolutely sure. We could still go over to the pub later. Then back here for an early night?” He asked although he knew Aaron wouldn’t be turning down that suggestion. 

Aaron smiled at him. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

Robert had no idea how they managed it. They seemed to get through so much milk it was unbelievable. Aaron had joked about them getting their own cow and Robert had given him a look as if to say ‘don’t be giving Lily any ideas’. She loved animals and was already on about getting a dog and Aaron was doing very little to dissuade her from her quest: Robert had a horrible feeling he was going to be outnumbered. He could just see how she’d react to the idea of getting a cute, little baby cow. 

He shook his head to himself as he wandered into David’s. He greeted the other man with a nod of his head and went straight for the fridges. He grabbed the milk and then wondered about picking up something nice for pudding as a surprise. Might as well while he was there. 

For some reason, his eyes drifted to the rack of newspapers. He never bought a paper, never really had been one of those people, so he didn’t know why he even spared them a glance. 

Something caught his eye and, with a frown on his face, he stepped a little closer. 

Robert looked down at the front of the ‘Hotten Courier’ on the rack and his blood ran cold. Staring back at him was one of those terrible police mock-ups of wanted criminals like he’d seen on ‘Crimewatch’ before and, to anyone else, the face would have been unrecognisable, but he knew immediately who it was.

Aaron. 

With a shaking hand, almost not wanting to touch it, he pulled the paper from the rack and scanned the article. 

Unknown identity. Violent. Do not approach. Contact police. Wanted for questioning in connection with a murder. Suspect believed to have made his way to the Yorkshire Dales area. 

Each word slammed into Robert like the bullets that Aaron had apparently used to kill some poor sod in Liverpool. 

This had to be a mistake. Maybe Aaron had a doppelgänger out there. Maybe he was being falsely accused. 

There was a grainy photo taken from CCTV of a man apparently running away from something and, for Robert, it just confirmed that it was most definitely Aaron. 

But the man from the article couldn’t be the same man he’d known for months. He couldn’t be the same man he’d fallen in love with. He couldn’t be the same man he’d let into his home and near his daughter. 

The paper slipped from his slack fingers and fell to the floor. 

Lily. 

He’d left her at home with Aaron. 

“Robert? You okay?” 

He heard David’s concerned voice calling to him, but he couldn’t reply. He couldn’t do anything apart from tear out of the shop and run back to the house. 


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter already? Yes, I was surprised too! It seems that your amazing feedback has inspired and motivated me so thank you!

Rationally, Robert knew that Aaron wouldn’t hurt Lily. He’d been living with them for months and had never so much as raised his voice. He’d been amazing with Lily. He’d become like a second parent to her. He adored her and she loved him. 

The thought brought a sob bubbling up Robert’s throat as he ran back down the street towards his home. This couldn’t be happening. 

He almost didn’t believe it. It had to be some horrible mistake. But it felt like his mind was whirring at a million thoughts a second. He’d always known there was something that Aaron was keeping from him: he’d known all along that Aaron had secrets and that something about his story from that night all those months ago just didn’t add up. But he’d been too scared to ask, too afraid to rock the boat and risk losing Aaron, and now that foolish, cowardly decision was coming back to bite him. Regardless of all of that, he still didn’t know if he was brave enough to hear the truth. He didn’t think he was ready to face losing Aaron - no matter what he’d done. 

Rushing through the gate, he forced himself to slow down. If he went tearing into the house, yelling and causing a scene, who knew what might happen. It might trigger something in Aaron that he’d been keeping at bay. Confronting him head on with what he’d found out might cause him to react violently. He might lash out and do something terrible. Robert couldn’t believe he was even considering these things. He couldn’t actually believe that Aaron would be capable of anything like that, but there was suddenly a doubt there in his head that had never been there before. When he’d left the house to get the milk, it never would’ve crossed his mind that Aaron was remotely dangerous. Now, he just didn’t know for sure. The mere thought of it made him want to collapse to the ground. But he had to be strong. He had to face this head on. And he had to make sure his daughter was safe and then...then, he didn’t know what came next. 

With a shaking hand, he opened the front door and stepped inside the house. Everything was calm, just as he’d left it. He walked into the living room and stood in the doorway staring at Aaron, who turned to face him from his position on the sofa and smiled up at him. 

“Get the milk?” he asked. The smile on his face wavered as he looked at Robert.

“Where’s Lily?” Robert asked. He knew his voice sounded odd, almost robotic, and he wanted to act normally, but that seemed impossible in the situation he’d found himself in. 

“She’s upstairs, playing,” Aaron replied. 

Robert felt momentary relief flood through him and then he stepped further into the living room and quietly pushed the door closed behind him. 

Frowning at his weird behaviour, Aaron pushed himself up from the sofa and moved towards Robert. And Robert couldn’t help it - he stepped away from him, moving across the room, but skirting around Aaron as he went. 

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked as he frowned at him in confusion. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Robert could feel himself shaking. He stared at Aaron for a long moment just trying to figure out how the man before him could be anything like the man in the paper. He didn’t want to believe it. 

“Robert?” Aaron said. Concern coloured his voice and it was enough to make Robert snap. 

“Who are you?” he asked suddenly and it seemed like the most pressing question out of the hundreds that were spinning around inside his head. 

“What?” Aaron asked as his face scrunched in obvious bewilderment. 

“Who are you?” Robert repeated. “I thought I knew, but...but you’ve been lying to me, Aaron.” He barked out an almost hysterical laugh and rubbed a hand over his face. “Oh my god, is that even your real name?”

Aaron’s eyes had widened. He looked scared, like he might bolt for the door at any moment, but there was also anger, or maybe frustration, on his face and it was the first time that Robert had ever seen that expression. 

“Of course it’s my real name,” Aaron said lowly, like he couldn’t believe that Robert was even asking him something so ridiculous. 

Robert shook his head. “And I’m just supposed to believe that,” he replied bluntly. “Maybe I could if everything else hadn’t been a lie.”

“I don’t know what you think you’ve suddenly found out about me...” Aaron started but Robert cut him off. He was angrier than he’d realised and that emotion had taken over as he desperately sought answers. 

“Don’t you dare. Don’t try to twist this. Your face is all over the fucking paper,” he ground out as he pointed at Aaron angrily. “Your face...or at least a bloody good artist’s impression. It’s _you_.” He paused for a moment and sucked in a breath. “You...wanted in connection with a murder in Liverpool. Some bloke called Flynn or Finn or something. You shot him.”

The words seemed horribly loud in the silence that followed. Robert was breathing heavily and still shaking. He watched as utter shock flashed across Aaron’s face and then everything about his expression hardened. He surged forwards and pushed Robert back against the wall, pinning him in place. 

Without having a moment to react or fight back, Robert collided with the wall and then merely stared at Aaron as he held him firmly. He blinked at the man holding him. Something in his heart splintered - was this really what Aaron had been holding inside him all this time? Was he finally showing his true colours? 

Aaron still looked scared and maybe there was anger there too, but he also looked desperate and worried and sad. Robert didn’t know what was happening, but he was scared too. And he was angry and hurt and betrayed. 

“What? What are you going to do now? Are you gonna kill me like that other bloke?” he ground out. He struggled against Aaron’s hold, but he was too strong: he couldn’t get away. 

“Shut up! I didn’t kill anyone! It’s not like that,” Aaron yelled at him. 

The frustration was obvious on his face: annoyance that he’s been caught out, Robert realised as he felt his heart sink further. 

“I trusted you,” Robert told him as he shook his head. He couldn’t believe this was happening; this was probably how he was going to die. At the hands of a man he’d trusted and let into his home and into this life, a man he’d fallen for, but clearly knew nothing about. “I let you into my home and I trusted you.” He said his thoughts aloud because he wanted Aaron to know how much he’d hurt him and betrayed him. “God, I let you get close to my daughter and you’re...you’re a murderer.”

Aaron looked like he’d been punched in the gut, like he might be sick, but he didn’t release his hold. 

Suddenly, the reality of everything that had happened struck Robert. It didn’t matter what Aaron did to him, but not Lily. Surely Aaron wouldn’t harm her. The anger drained from him and gave way to his ultimate fear. 

“ _Please_ ,” he begged desperately. His hands scrabbled against Aaron’s upper arms as he tried to appeal to him. “Please, don’t hurt her. She’s just a child...please, Aaron. If any of it was real...if you cared about her at all...You can leave...you can go - I’ll never tell anyone you were here...just don’t hurt her.”

The grip on his arms slackened a little and Aaron’s face fell. He looked utterly appalled.

“I’d never hurt her,” Aaron said quietly. “Of course I wouldn’t. I’d never hurt you either. How can you think that? Don’t you know me at all?”

“Obviously not!” Robert erupted, the desperate fear and hurt taking over again. “I _don’t_ know you, do I? You’ve been lying to me all this time.” He almost let out a desperate sob because everything they’d supposedly built over the months that they’d been together had all been make-believe. “Did you ever really want any of this? Or was it just convenient for you? Did you see me coming and think I was exactly the sort of idiot you needed to help you get away with it? Was it all just a way to stay hidden from what you’ve done?” He shook his head, knowing there were tears forming in his eyes. “What have you done, Aaron? How can any of this be true? I...I don’t want to believe it. Please tell me it’s not true.” His voice cracked as he spoke: this couldn’t be happening. 

Aaron suddenly released him completely and stepped back shaking his head. 

“It’s not what you think. Whatever you’ve seen in the paper...it’s not...that’s not how it happened. You need to believe me, Robert. I’m not the person they’re saying I am.”

Robert stared at him. “Then who are you? Because a moment ago...you weren’t the same person I’ve known all this time. You were...someone else.”

Staring back at him, Aaron didn’t speak.

“Tell me,” Robert commanded. “Tell me the truth. Don’t I deserve that?”

Aaron visibly sagged in front of him. His shoulders slumped and he looked lost. Taking another backwards step, he held up his hands like he was surrendering. 

“I didn’t kill anyone,” he said quietly. “I’m being set up.”

“What? By who?” 

Sighing heavily, Aaron briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them to look back at Robert, he looked so earnest. “I don’t...I don’t know where to start, but I need you to listen to me. I know...I know I’ve betrayed your trust and you’ll never know how truly terrible that makes me feel. But I need you to listen to me now and I need you to trust me. I know it’s a lot to ask...but I need you to believe me.”

Robert swallowed thickly. He couldn’t take his eyes off Aaron. He wanted Aaron to tell him that this had all been a mistake and he so desperately wanted to believe it. He had to hear him out. 

“Tell me,” he repeated, more quietly than before. 

Aaron chewed on his lower lip for a moment and then he nodded once. Slowly, he lowered himself down to sit on the arm of the sofa. He didn’t take his eyes off Robert even as he rubbed his face wearily. 

“There’s something you need to see,” he said quietly. He began reaching into his back pocket and Robert visibly tensed. Aaron held up his hand again. “Hey, it’s fine. I just need to show you something.”

Watching him closely from where he was still standing, Robert nodded. 

Aaron reached back again and managed to pull something out of his pocket. His wallet. He flipped it open and wiggled something free. After a moment of looking unsure, he held it out to Robert. He drew in a deep breath - this was the most faith he’d put in anyone for a long time. It struck him then that the only person he’d trusted in a while was Robert and it wasn’t lost on him that despite everything Robert had done for him, and how he’d trusted Robert enough to go with him that night, he hadn’t trusted him with the truth. He wasn’t sure if Robert would be able to forgive him for that: he wasn’t sure if he could forgive himself. 

Cautiously, Robert took it from his hand. His eyes scanned it and then he looked back up at Aaron sharply. The confusion and doubt he felt was obvious. 

“Detective Sergeant Aaron Dingle? West Yorkshire Police?” he read off Aaron’s ID card. “You’re...you’re in the police?”

Aaron nodded in confirmation.

Robert just stared at him for a long time. Aaron could almost see cogs turning in his head as he tried to process what he’d just discovered. 

“But...what...why...what the hell is going on?” Robert eventually asked in almost overwhelmed frustration. He was still clutching the card in his hand and he kept looking down at it and back up at Aaron. 

“I’m a detective,” Aaron told him. He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. Robert wasn’t stupid - he’d understand what Aaron was telling him - but he was also in the middle of a bit of a crisis so he wasn’t exactly thinking rationally. Aaron didn’t want to unsettle him any further. 

“Over a year ago, I was sent undercover. We were working with the force in Liverpool because of this really big drug-running gang. There was all this county lines stuff going on and...” He trailed off knowing that Robert probably didn’t need to know all the ins and outs or the reasons behind the operation. “I was a fresh face. No-one in Liverpool would know me. My bosses wanted me to get in with the gang so I could feedback about what they were up to and gather enough evidence to bring them all down.”

Robert was just blinking at him in utter bewilderment. 

“When I got close, I realised it was much worse than we’d realised. We’re talking proper scum of the earth. And they were brutal...” Again he trailed off but it was more to do with the things he was momentarily remembering than anything else. There was no wonder he hadn’t slept well in months. 

“Aaron?” Robert said and it was the first word he’d uttered since Aaron had started his story. 

Aaron looked up at him and he realised he’d got lost in his head. He’d tried to avoid thinking about his time undercover too much for that exact reason - it pulled him down and he struggled to get free from it. His time with Robert and Lily had been so precious to him for more than one reason - he really felt like it had saved him. And now he was terrified of losing that because of his secrets. 

“Sorry...sorry, I, um...” he stuttered and Robert was looking at him in concern. For a moment, Aaron thought that Robert might come to him, pull him into his arms and reassure him that everything was going to be alright, but he knew they weren’t there yet. No matter how much Robert looked worried for him - about him - he obviously still didn’t know if he could trust Aaron anymore. He didn’t know if Aaron was the same person he’d known for the last few months. And that made Aaron unbearably sad. 

He cleared his throat. “There was a bloke working for the gang, thought he was a proper hard-man. He had a younger brother who he’d dragged into the whole thing, but the brother was...well, he was useless. Harmless enough and a bit of a drip really. Didn’t have a clue what he’d got himself dragged in to, but by the time he’d realised even half of what was going on, it was too late for him to just walk away. He didn’t really get involved in anything - just sort of hung around and they asked him to do the mundane stuff they couldn’t be bothered with. The brothers - the Bartons- became my targets. I worked on getting them onside. The younger one, Finn, was easy to win over and I eventually managed to get in with the older one too. He was the key to getting all the information I needed. 

“I’d been there for months. I was part of the gang and I was reporting back everything I found out. We were so close to getting enough to bring the whole lot down, but then, somehow, they figured me out.”

Robert was staring at Aaron wide-eyed. He looked like he was struggling to process everything he was hearing, but, Aaron was pleased to see, he looked like he believed him. Aaron only wished he’d had the courage to tell Robert all of this before now. He wished it hadn’t come to Robert stumbling across the truth and finding out so painfully that he’d been lied to for months. But he couldn’t change that. All he could do was be honest now. 

“What happened?” Robert asked quietly. 

Aaron sighed. “Everything went to shit pretty quickly. I was at one of the warehouses they used. Finn was with me. He got this phone call and he turned and looked at me and his face told me everything I needed to know. He knew I was a copper. I suppose whoever had rang had told him to play it cool and keep me busy until they joined us, but Finn had the worst poker face I’ve ever seen. I knew I’d been rumbled. I thought about just running out of there because Finn wasn’t exactly going to be able to stop me, but I knew the gang would take it out on him if he let me go. I tried to convince him to leave with me - I offered him protective custody if he helped lock the gang members up - but he wouldn’t do it. He was an idiot, but he was loyal to his brother. I was running out of time and I knew if I got caught I was dead. I had no choice. I shot him...”

“Oh my god,” Robert gasped. He shook his head in disbelief and he looked appalled. “You killed him.”

Quickly, Aaron pushed himself up. “No, no,” he said desperately. “I shot him in the arm. It was enough to make it look like he’d tried to stop me and I’d overpowered him. But I didn’t shoot to kill. I even explained to him why I’d done it and apologised. When I ran out of that warehouse, Finn was very much alive and his injury wasn’t life-threatening. I had no idea he was dead until you came back just now and told me what you’d seen in the paper.”

Robert was still staring at him in shock. 

“So...how did he end up dead then? And why are you getting the blame? And why haven’t you gone back to wherever it is you work to tell your boss or somebody what’s happened? If you’re in the police, surely you just need to explain.”

Aaron shook his head. “It’s not that simple. How do you think they figured out who I really was? Don’t you think it was all a bit of a coincidence that just when we’d got everything we needed to take them down, and I was going to get the hell out of there, they suddenly got a tip-off that I’m a cop? Doesn’t that seem a bit dodgy? My cover was good - the job was strictly need to know. Even my family didn’t know where I was working or what I was really doing. Someone on the force sold me out. It’s the only explanation. There’s a mole working for my unit and I’ve got no idea who. So when I ran out of there, I realised I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t go back to the police because I didn’t know who I could trust. I couldn’t go to my family because someone might track me down. I was properly shafted and on my own.”

“Until I found you,” Robert said quietly. 

He looked overwhelmed and confused and pretty devastated by what he’d heard. Aaron looked at him and felt so guilty for bringing all of this to Robert’s door. He feared he’d ruined everything between them by hiding the truth but he also felt sick to know that he’d hurt Robert. 

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I’ve messed everything up. And I’m sorry for...how I reacted when you asked me about it. I was scared about what you were going to do. I just...I fell back into old habits, I guess. Ways I would’ve protected myself. And that’s no excuse...I shouldn’t have pushed you like that...I’m sorry. I’d never hurt you...at least, not like that.” He trailed off miserably, knowing that Robert had every right, every _reason_ , to just kick him out right now. He just wanted him to know that he was sorry. 

Robert was quiet for a long time. He looked like he didn’t know how to process everything that had been revealed. 

“Are we...are we in danger?” he eventually asked. 

“No,” Aaron said with a firm shake of his head. “No. There’s no way anyone could know where I am. And if there’d been any sign of trouble, I’d have gone. I wouldn’t have risked yours or Lily’s safety.”

Robert’s face flickered. “You’d have left?” he asked and his voice wavered a little. “Just like that?”

Aaron sighed. He didn’t know what to say for the best. He felt like everything he did was going to be wrong. He knew that if someone had come looking for him, he’d have left as quickly as possible. He’d known that all along but that didn’t mean it made it any easier. It would have ripped his heart out to walk away from Robert like that, but he knew he would to keep him and Lily safe. “I wouldn’t have had a choice, would I? I wouldn’t have put you in danger. And...it would’ve killed me to leave you, but I’d have done it to protect you.”

“What are we going to do?” Robert asked and he sounded like he was beginning to despair. “That report in the paper...it said you were in the Dales. How could they know that? What if they’ve tracked you down?”

Despite everything, Aaron’s hopes were lifted by Robert using the word ‘we’. Maybe he hadn’t given up on them even after everything he’d found out. 

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, because he didn’t know. 

None of this had been in his plan. He hadn’t even had a plan when he’d shot Finn, run out of that warehouse, fought off one of the gang’s minions and stolen that wreck of a car. He’d just put his foot down and got the hell out of there. He certainly hadn’t planned to meet Robert or move in with him or fall in love with him. 

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he repeated. “But I promise you, Robert, I won’t let anything happen to you or Lily.”

Robert’s eyes roamed over his face.

“Where’s Lily?” he suddenly asked. The urge to see his daughter had him tearing his eyes away from Aaron and rushing towards the living room door. 

“She‘s upstairs in her bedroom,” Aaron called after him as Robert pulled the door open. He knew he sounded weary, like the weight of the world had collapsed on him. 

“Oh my god,” Robert gasped as he walked through to the hallway. 

“What?” Aaron asked as he pushed himself up and went to join him. The front door was wide open and it sent a shudder through Aaron because that wasn’t right. 

“Lily?” Robert shouted up the stairs. “Lily!” He took the stairs two at a time as he rushed up them. Less than a minute later, he came flying back down. “She’s gone!” he said desperately. “What if she heard us arguing and got scared? She’s run away!”

Dread rushed through Aaron. This was his fault. Only minutes ago, he’d promised he wouldn’t let anything happen to Robert or Lily and he’d already broken his promise. But he had to stay calm: Robert was panicking enough for both of them as he pulled at his hair and tears welled in his eyes. He felt himself fall back into the role of a police officer. It was who he needed to be in that moment, despite the fact that his own heart was racing in fear. 

“Robert,” he said calmly. He took hold of him by the biceps and gripped him firmly. “Listen to me. We’ll find her, alright? She can’t have gone far.” 

Robert was breathing heavily but he focused on Aaron and nodded once. Aaron could feel him shaking. 

“We’ll find her,” he repeated. He needed to believe it as much as Robert needed to hear it. They had to find Lily.


	7. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t expecting to get this chapter done for today so yay me! I really wanted to try for you all though because I know I left you on a cliffhanger with lovely little Lily going missing...so here you go! Enjoy.

Aaron had rushed out of the house. 

His heart was pounding, but he was trying to keep calm. He needed to be a police officer - a detective - not a worried, desperate man who was terrified about the whereabouts of a little girl who he loved completely. 

He couldn’t help but feel guilty: this was his fault. Lily never would have run off if it wasn’t for him and his secrets. The thought that she had overheard any of his conversation with Robert filled him with dread. What if she’d heard him say he’d shot someone? What if she heard him shouting at Robert? He didn’t want her to be afraid of anything, least of all him.

Robert had been a wreck as soon as he’d realised that Lily was gone. He’d gone into typical parent panic mode and Aaron had seen it all before. The only difference was that he’d never been so emotionally invested before. He’d never felt that panic himself before, but for just a moment, he’d felt it creeping over him before he’d given himself a mental slap and told himself to get it together because Lily needed him and so did Robert. 

“You need to stay calm,” Aaron had told him. He’d taken hold of Robert’s upper arms, in a painful parody of how he’d grabbed him when he’d confronted him with what he’d seen in the newspaper, and stopped Robert’s panicked dash for the front door. 

Robert had blinked at him with tears in his eyes and a stricken expression on his face. 

“How can I stay calm?” Robert had shouted. “She’s missing, Aaron! My daughter is missing.” 

He’d tried to pull away, desperate to run out of the door and start frantically searching but Aaron had known that that wouldn’t help. 

“Robert,” he’d said firmly as he’d gripped his arms. “You need to stop and think. Is there anywhere she might run to if she was frightened?”

Robert had stilled and stared at him for a moment. 

“Vic’s. She might go to Victoria’s,” he’d eventually replied. 

Aaron had nodded. “Right. Then you go to hers and check. I’ll start looking for her in the village. If she’s at Vic’s, call me.”

Robert had nodded and rushed out of the door. Aaron had grabbed his jacket off the hooks by the door and done the same. 

And now he was searching. He was calling Lily’s name as he hurried along the street. He’d tried the park and checked the church, but found that the door was locked so she couldn’t have got inside. 

He was desperately trying to keep a lid on the emotions bubbling up inside him. He needed to stay calm like he’d told Robert to. While most of his brain was filled with worry for Lily, a tiny part couldn’t help but be concerned about what Robert would tell Victoria and what that might trigger. And what if they called the police? He didn’t think they’d need to: he was sure they’d find Lily. But if the police turned up in the village, Aaron was in trouble. 

He shook his head, knew he shouldn’t be worrying about himself in that moment, knew he was being selfish to even think about what might happen to him amongst what was going on. But he could admit to himself that he was scared. 

Robert had called him mere minutes after they’d parted ways and all but yelled down the phone at him that Lily wasn’t at Vic’s and she hadn’t seen her. Aaron had kept his voice level, masking his inner turmoil, and told Robert to go home and check if she’d turned up. If not, he told him to start searching, like he was, but going in the opposite direction. 

“We’ll find her, Robert,” he’d said firmly. “It’s going to be okay.”

Robert had hung up without another word.

Aaron didn’t know how to take that reaction. He didn’t have time to think about it. He didn’t think he wanted to. 

“Lily!” he shouted as he ran down the path leading him towards the stream. He didn’t want to imagine that she’d come this way. She was too little, too young to be wandering about on her own, especially near the water, especially if she was frightened or running. What if she’d slipped? What if she was hurt? He had to stop himself thinking like that. She was going to be fine. They’d find her. She was probably at Diane’s or something, or one of the other villagers had spotted her and they were on their way back to Robert right at that moment.

He kept moving. Running. His feet thudded onto the wooden footbridge over the stream and he skidded to a halt, looking all around, even down at the banks of the stream. 

“Lily!” he called. He could hear the desperation, the fear, in his own voice. 

There was no sign of her so he rushed on. Over the bridge and out onto the village green. The wide open space seemed horribly empty. Surely, it would seem so daunting to someone so small and all on their own. 

Then his eyes landed on the cricket pavilion. Maybe Lily had ran over to it and found her way inside. Maybe she’d decided to hide because as much as it was scary to be on her own, at least she was vaguely familiar with the place. 

Aaron ran across the field and then slowed as he reached the steps. If she was inside, he didn’t want to startle her or frighten her any further by thundering up the steps and bursting through the door. And he didn’t want her to think she was in trouble either. 

Quietly, he made his way up the steps and paused at the door. He peered through one of the dirty glass panels but couldn’t see well enough to make anything out. 

Trying the handle, he sucked in a breath when he realised that the door was unlocked. Slowly, he pushed the door open and walked inside.

Lily, who had been sitting in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees, looked up sharply and stared at him with wide eyes. Aaron could see that she’d been crying. She was still sniffling quietly. 

“Hey, Lils,” he said softly as he stepped inside. 

Lily just stared back at him like he was a stranger and it cut Aaron to the core. He didn’t know what she’d heard but enough for her to be frightened. He crouched down just inside the doorway, trying to make himself seem less threatening to her. She watched him closely. 

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” he told her. “Me and your dad were so worried.”

“Where’s my daddy?” she asked. She was trembling and her voice shook as she spoke. 

“He’s out looking for you. He’s been so frightened about where you’d got to,” Aaron replied gently. 

Lily didn’t take her eyes off Aaron. “Did you hurt him?”

Aaron was pretty sure his heart broke at the words. He felt his eyes prick with tears, but he forced himself to swallow the emotion down.

“No, Lils. I didn’t hurt him. I’d never hurt him,” he said and he meant it. He’d never hurt Robert physically, but he was terrified that he’d hurt him irreparably with his actions. 

She looked at him like she wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. 

“Shall I ring your daddy? I bet he’d be really happy to know that you’re safe. And then he can come here, can’t he?”

Lily nodded but still looked a little doubtful. 

Aaron pulled out his phone and quickly found Robert’s number. After only one ring, Robert answered. He sounded out of breath and stressed beyond anything imaginable. 

“I’ve found her,” Aaron said immediately. 

“Oh my god,” Robert cried down the phone. His voice cracked and Aaron could picture him running his hand through his hair and squeezing his eyes closed in relief. “Where? Where are you?” he asked.

“Up at the cricket pavilion,” Aaron replied. 

“Is she okay?” 

“She’s okay,” Aaron told him. “A bit shaken up but, physically, she’s fine.”

“I’m on my way,” Robert said and Aaron could hear his feet pounding on the ground. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Okay,” Aaron said simply and hung up. “He’s on his way,” he said to Lily. “He’s very happy that you’re alright.”

“I heard you shouting at one another. I got scared,” she said quietly, like she suddenly felt the need to explain why she’d run off. Or maybe she wanted Aaron to explain what had happened. 

Aaron sighed heavily. “We had a falling out,” he replied gently. “Sometimes people fall out and they get a bit cross with one another. And sometimes they say things that they don’t mean. But we were trying to sort it out and we were trying not to be cross with one another.” He didn’t know how else to explain it to her. 

Lily frowned at him. “Were you mean to daddy?”

Aaron swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to lie to her and he certainly didn’t want to upset her any further. And, ultimately, this was his fault. He had to take responsibility. 

“I...I wasn’t as nice to him as I should have been. I was cross and...I upset him. But I’m sorry that I did it. And I hope he forgives me. And I’m sorry that you got frightened because of it. I hope you can forgive me too.”

“Daddy shouted at you too which wasn’t very nice,” Lily said, and Aaron couldn’t help smiling slightly at her. If only everything was a simple as the way she viewed the world. 

“I deserved it,” Aaron told her. “He was cross with me because I’d done something to upset him. It was my fault.”

Lily drew in a deep breath and pushed herself up. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck as he knelt on the floor. 

“It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “I think he’ll forgive you.”

Aaron could only hope that she was right; that everything would be forgiven. He put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly finally allowing some of the tension to leave his body. He’d been so scared about losing her. She was shivering a little, but so was he. 

There were thudding footsteps outside and suddenly the door was ripped open. 

“Oh god, Lily,” Robert cried as his eyes landed on her. 

She released Aaron and rushed to her father and he fell to his knees as he pulled her into his arms. He kissed her head over and over and then pulled her into a tight embrace. Robert’s eyes were squeezed shut, but Aaron could see the tears streaming down his face. 

“I love you so much, sweetheart,” he was murmuring into her hair. “Don’t ever run off like that again. You frightened me.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Lily said quietly and Aaron could see her rubbing Robert’s back like she was the one soothing him, and maybe she was. 

Eventually, Robert pushed her back gently and allowed his eyes to run over her, checking her for any injuries or distress. 

“Why did you run off?” Robert asked with a frown. 

Lily’s shoulders slumped and she looked down at the floor. 

“I heard you and Aaron shouting at one another and I didn’t like it. I got scared.” She looked over at Aaron. “Aaron said he was sorry.”

After hardly looking in Aaron’s direction since he’d walked in, Robert’s eyes finally landed on him. He stared at him for a long moment and Aaron stared back. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. He didn’t know if they could find a way through this; if he could make it right between them. 

Robert seemed to shake his head slightly and tore his eyes away from Aaron. It seemed like he didn’t know what they were going to do either. He focused back on Lily.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he said as he pushed himself back to his feet and picked her up. “Let’s get you home.”

Aaron watched as they walked out of the door and then he silently followed them.

***

Aaron had stayed quiet as Robert had settled Lily back in at home. He’d hovered uncertainly in the doorway of the living room watching as Robert had wrapped Lily in a blanket and cuddled her closely, and then he’d quietly slipped out of the front door and left them to it. They’d needed some space and so had Aaron. 

The fear of Lily being missing had taken over any other thoughts. His only concern had been finding her. And he’d done that: she was safe; she was at home with her dad. Aaron could breathe easily again. And that meant that he could also think. But that meant that he had to think about the whole mess he was in. He had to think about how he’d hurt Robert and let him down. And he had to think about what he was going to do to put that right. 

Eventually, he’d returned to the house and found Robert making a cup of tea and Lily still snuggled up on the sofa with ‘The Lion King’ playing on the television. 

Robert had looked at him steadily, but he hadn’t smiled. 

“You can sit with her, if you want,” he’d said quietly. “She’s been asking after you.”

Aaron had nodded gratefully. He’d half-expected Robert to tell him to stay away from her, and he’d been dreading that, but he’d walked into the living room and sat down next to Lily who had immediately leaned against him and sighed heavily. 

“I’m glad you’ve come home,” she’d said softly and Aaron’s eyes had burned with tears that he’d blinked away. 

He’d looked up to find Robert watching them closely before he’d sat down at the other end of the sofa, gently rubbing Lily’s leg through the blanket and then staring unseeingly at the screen. 

It had felt like a long few hours. Lily had been uncharacteristically quiet and Aaron had been concerned about her well-being after her experience that day. He could understand why she’d been frightened by hearing them arguing: they’d never fought before, never been angry with one another and raised their voices. Lily had got used to living in a peaceful little world, both before Aaron had turned up, when it was just her and Robert, and then after that, when Aaron had moved in. From the little that Aaron knew, and what he’d pieced together in his own head from Robert’s story, the last time someone had shouted at her daddy, Lily had witnessed an abusive arsehole hurting the person she loved more than anything in the world, so there was no wonder she’d reacted like she had. It broke Aaron’s heart to know that she’d thought he’d hurt Robert like that. But she seemed to have believed him when he’d promised that he hadn’t, and he was more than a little grateful that she seemed to be a good judge of character and ultimately trusted him. 

It was earlier than her usual bedtime when Robert decided he was taking her up to bed. She didn’t even protest - a sure sign that she wasn’t her usual self - and Robert scooped her up to carry her up the stairs. Aaron watched them go, feeling a weight pressing down on him that hadn’t been there for a long time. He’d allowed himself to believe that he could stay in this little bubble of contentment, that he deserved to be a part of this amazing little family that they’d created. He’d let himself get swept up in the fantasy of it all and stopped thinking about the reality of his situation. 

He was still being hunted by a dangerous gang of criminals. He had still been betrayed by some bent copper on the force. He was putting Robert and Lily in danger with his mere presence in their lives. He’d been lying to the man he cared about for months. Months. What should have been a bolt-hole for a night - a random, yet very welcome, act of kindness by a stranger - had turned into so much more. Aaron shouldn’t have stayed beyond that first night. He should have thanked Robert for his help and disappeared. He shouldn’t have stayed and let himself believe he belonged there. 

Instead of dealing with his extremely dangerous problem, he’d pushed it to the back of his mind, pretended it didn’t matter. Not only had he let Robert down, he’d let himself down by not pursuing the truth of whoever was working for the gang. He hadn’t reported in to his commanding officer for months - the force probably thought he was dead. He hadn’t contacted his family since that first night when he’d text his mum to let her know he was safe. She was probably going out of her mind. 

Rubbing his hand across his eyes, he sighed heavily. What a fucking mess.

“Sounds like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Robert said from the doorway and Aaron startled a little. He hadn’t been aware of Robert’s presence behind him and that was just something else that had changed. Not so long ago, he’d been so on edge, so hyper-aware of everything little movement, every tiny facial reaction or twitch of a finger, because he needed to read every situation. He’d not been able to rest. He’d never been caught off-guard by anyone because he couldn’t afford to be. But since he’d been with Robert, he’d let his guard down. It was like he wasn’t the same person anymore and he didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

“How’s Lily?” he asked immediately. 

Robert blew out a long breath. “Fell asleep before I’d even finished her story,” he replied. “Think she’s exhausted after everything today. But I think she’s alright.” He paused and looked at Aaron for a moment. “Thanks to you,” he added quietly.

“Me?” Aaron echoed in shock. “I’m the reason she ran off in the first place.”

“We were both angry - we both frightened her.” Robert shook his head and then moved around the sofa to come and sit down. “But you found her. I was in full panic mode - absolutely useless - but you...you found her. I guess...I guess that’s because of your job.”

Aaron looked at him and knew that that was Robert’s way of starting the conversation that they needed to have. He just didn’t know where to start. 

“How did you even become a detective?” Robert asked suddenly. “Aren’t you a bit young?”

It hadn’t been what Aaron had been expecting but he was grateful for it somehow. He knew how to talk about that, at least. 

“I...I had a ‘troubled childhood’ as I suppose some people would call it and I went off the rails a bit as a teenager.” He wanted to be honest with Robert: he didn’t want any more lies. But he also didn’t think that this was the time for the full story of his younger years so he tried to keep the details vague. 

“I joined the police pretty soon after I left school. Think it was either that or join the other side and get myself banged up.” He snorted softly as he remembered the look on his uncle’s face when he’d announced his plan. “I can tell you, it didn’t go down too well with certain members of my family. They’re not exactly good at keeping out of trouble so having a copper in the family went down about as well as you can imagine. But they got over it. And after a couple of years, my superior must’ve seen something in me. She said I had a nose for sussing stuff out and she fast-tracked me to being a Detective Constable. I loved it and I knew it was what I wanted to do so I trained hard and eventually made DS. It’d only been a few months after my promotion that I got the undercover assignment. I was young enough, and rough enough, I guess, to fit in and I hadn’t been around long enough on the force for anyone in the gang to have come across me before in any previous operations. I’d never even been to Liverpool before and the force over there needed a completely fresh face to get in with the gang.” He sighed again. “And everything was going well until they figured out who I was.”

“And that’s why you haven’t contacted anyone that you work with? Because someone told the gang you were a detective?” Robert asked. 

Aaron nodded. “I don’t know who I can trust. I could arrange to meet someone and it could turn out to be a trap. I could go to the station and then get shot the minute I walked back out.”

Robert’s eyes widened and he looked horrified at what Aaron had said. 

“Sorry,” Aaron quickly added. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want to freak you out. Well, any more than I already have today.” He offered Robert a sad smile. 

“So...what now?” Robert asked. 

Aaron frowned at him and tugged at the sleeves of his jumper. He knew what he had to do. He knew he couldn’t stay hidden in Emmerdale any longer. He just didn’t know if he was ready. 

Drawing in a deep breath, he nodded once as though confirming his plan in his own head before he said it aloud.

“I need to go back to CID, find my chief and tell him everything.”

The concern Robert felt was written all over his face. “But...what if something happens to you? What if the gang finds out where you are?”

Aaron shrugged slightly. “I can’t stay here and do nothing anymore. I’ve been hiding here for longer than I ever should’ve been. And...if what you saw in the paper is right, they’re still looking for me and they have a rough idea where I am. I’m not putting you and Lily in danger by staying here and just waiting for them to turn up. I need to beat them to it.”

Robert chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Aaron smiled fondly at him. “You’ve already done so much. Pretty sure you saved my life that night you pulled over and offered me a place to stay. You got me off the grid, gave me somewhere to hide out where they’d never think to look for me. You’ve done more than enough. And you did it all without even knowing who I really was.”

“You lied to me,” Robert said quietly. He stared at Aaron for a long moment, as though he was trying to figure everything out or read something in his eyes, before tearing his gaze away. Then he pushed himself up from the sofa. He walked across the room and turned as he leant against the edge of the little dining table with his arms folded across his chest. He was looking down at the floor, refusing to look at Aaron’s face. 

“All this time...you’ve been lying to me. You didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was really going on. You didn’t think I deserved to know that there’s a bunch of psychos out there that want you dead. And I never pushed...I knew there was something you were keeping from me, something that just didn’t add up, but I didn’t push for the truth because I was too scared to know what it was and I was too scared that if I did, you’d leave.” 

He hadn’t looked up at Aaron once and as much as Aaron wanted to interrupt and tell him how sorry he was, he knew he had to let Robert vent everything he was feeling. He owed him that much at least. He’d dropped a huge bombshell on him and Robert needed chance to process that along with the implications of what it meant. So he just watched and listened. 

Robert blew out a shuddering breath. 

“You let me believe that all of this was real,” he said quietly. “You made me think that this was what you wanted. That you wanted me and you wanted to stay here with us and be a family. You let me fall in love with you and believe that you loved me too when really it was just a way for you to hide.”

“No,” Aaron said suddenly. He felt stricken with the words - they were so untrue, so wrong. He couldn’t let Robert say that; he couldn’t let him believe it. 

But Robert just carried on talking. 

“And even after all of that, now I know the truth, I still can’t bear the thought of you leaving. I can’t bear the idea of you going back there and being in danger. I don’t want to lose you, but I never really had you, did I? This was never going to last and I was just an idiot for letting myself get swept up in it all.”

Suddenly, Aaron couldn’t take it anymore. He pushed himself up off the sofa and closed the distance between them. He stood in front of Robert. He noticed that Robert didn’t flinch away from him like he’d dreaded he might following the events of the day and he was grateful for that small mercy. 

“Robert, you weren’t part of the plan,” he said honestly. “When I ran out of that warehouse, I didn’t even _have_ a plan. I just had to get away. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I certainly didn’t plan on meeting you and coming back here with you. And even when I stayed, I didn’t expect to start having feelings for you. Every day, I kept thinking, ‘I’ll leave tomorrow’, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t leave you. And I didn’t plan for that. I didn’t plan to fall in love with you but I did.”

Finally, Robert lifted his head and looked at him. It was hard to tell if he believed Aaron’s words. 

“I love you,” Aaron said firmly. “And no, I didn’t plan it, but it’s true. And yes, I lied to you. And I want you to know that I’m so sorry for that and I’m sorry for hurting you. But if I had to go back and do it all again, I don’t know if I’d change any of it. Because if I told you right from the beginning, I’d never have got to know you. I wouldn’t have stayed here and I wouldn’t have fallen for you and I wouldn’t have become part of something special. This family - you, me and Lily - it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m so sorry that I’ve risked ruining it. I didn’t plan any of this but I wouldn’t give any of it up for the world. The only thing I’d change is the fact that you think for even a second that none of this was real and that it didn’t matter to me. It means the world to me and that’s why I need to do whatever it takes to make it right.”

Robert blinked at him and then he stood up straight and grabbed Aaron. He pulled him close, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face against his neck. 

“I love you too,” he murmured against his skin. 

Squeezing his eyes closed, Aaron took a moment to just breathe and feel the safety of Robert’s embrace. He’d been so scared that he’d lose this, that Robert wouldn’t be able to move past the fact that Aaron had kept the truth from him for so long. 

“I’m scared,” Robert admitted after a long time of them just standing pressed together. 

Aaron leaned back and looked at him steadily. 

“What if something happens to you? I don’t want you to go,” Robert told him without Aaron even having to ask. 

“I know,” Aaron replied. “I don’t want to go either, but I have to. I have to do the right thing and I have to end this before anyone else gets hurt.” He frowned and it was his turn to look down at the floor. “I should’ve done this sooner. I should’ve been braver...”

“Hey,” Robert cut him off. “You’ve been incredibly brave. Look at me, Aaron.” He waited for Aaron to lift his head and then he continued. “I don’t know the ins and outs of what’s gone on and I don’t know what you’ve experienced with these people, but putting yourself in danger to stop them like you did...well, that’s pretty bloody brave if you ask me.” 

Aaron smiled weakly at him. At least Robert had faith in him, even after everything that had happened. He still wasn’t sure he deserved it.

“You’re not...you aren’t going to leave right now, are you?” Robert asked and it sounded like he was afraid to hear the answer. 

Shaking his head, Aaron replied, “No. No, I think all of this can wait one more night.”

Robert visibly released a long breath in relief and Aaron felt the same. He wasn’t ready to leave Robert and Lily. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face whatever lay beyond the relative safety of Emmerdale. But maybe he could do it if he knew Robert was waiting for him to come home after it was all over and done with.

“Let’s go to bed,” Robert said and he reached out to grab Aaron’s hand. “We’ll deal with everything in the morning.”

As Aaron followed him up the stairs, he couldn’t help but dread the arrival of the next day. For the moment, he knew he had to push it to the back of his mind. Like Robert had said, they’d deal with it in the morning, and until then, he planned to make the most of every second with the man he loved. 


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for an update!

When Robert woke up, he immediately squeezed his eyes closed again. He didn’t want to wake up: he didn’t want to face what the day would bring. Trying to force the reality away, he snuggled closer to Aaron. He spooned up behind him, pulling him closer and tightening his hold around him. 

Aaron grunted softly in response and Robert felt him stirring awake. He felt the moment when Aaron was alert enough to remember the previous day and everything that had happened and everything that Aaron had said he needed to do. 

Aaron was going to leave. He was going to go to the police and try to fix everything and get his life back. And Robert wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready for him to go and face whatever danger lay in wait for him. He wasn’t ready for Aaron to leave him behind. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, even if it was only for a short while. 

“Rob?” Aaron whispered.

Robert thought about pretending to be asleep; the only way he could envisage clinging on to their little bubble of happiness for just a little while longer. 

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “I’m awake.”

Aaron shuffled around in his hold and turned to face him. He just gazed at Robert for a long time. It seemed like he was committing every tiny detail to memory and the thought scared Robert because Aaron didn’t need to do that because he was coming back. He was coming home after all of this was dealt with and they were going to be alright. 

“You’re coming back,” he said firmly. 

Aaron blinked at him in confusion. 

“You don’t need to look at me like that because you’re coming back. After this is all done, you’re going to come home and we’re going to put all of this behind us.” He felt his voice crack a little. “You’re coming home. It’s going to be alright.” 

He didn’t know who he was trying to convince more: himself or Aaron.

Aaron lifted his hand and gently stroked through the hair at the side of Robert’s head. Robert closed his eyes at the feeling, leaning into the touch a little, and drew in a deep breath. 

“It’s going to be alright,” Aaron echoed. 

Robert opened his eyes and offered him a tight smile. He wanted to believe it; he was desperate to. But he was scared. Aaron was too: Robert could tell by the look on his face and the doubt in his eyes. 

“Daddy?” Lily’s voice had Robert pulling away and sitting up in bed. As much as he wanted to never move from where he was in that moment, he had to go to his daughter. 

He’d had a terrible night for more than one reason: the fear and worry about Aaron leaving; Aaron’s story swirling round and round inside his head; concern about Lily. He’d got up more than once in the night and silently crept across the landing to her bedroom to check on her. She’d been sound asleep every time he’d poked his head around the door, but he’d needed to see that she was safe and settled. He’d needed to confirm it just to be sure. 

Pushing open her bedroom door, he found her sitting up in bed yawning. His heart thudded in his chest - he loved her so much. The thought that something might have happened to her the day before was a fear that would haunt him and keep him awake in the future, he knew. 

“Morning, sweetheart,” he said as he wandered over to her bed and sat down on the edge of it. 

Immediately, she shuffled over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“Did you have a good sleep, Daddy?” she asked. 

“Not bad,” Robert lied. She didn’t need to know otherwise. “How about you?”

“I slept really well. What are we doing today?” she asked. 

She never failed to amaze Robert. It was almost as though the day before hadn’t even happened. There didn’t seem to be any negative side-effects and Lily seemed to be more than ready to forget all about it and move on. Robert knew that he needed to keep an eye on her to make sure she really was doing alright, but so far, she seemed to be back to her usual self. Her resilience and positivity and general happiness about life filled him with warmth.

But her question sent a cold shiver down his spine because he didn’t know what their day held, not really. The only thing he knew for sure was that Aaron would be leaving and, not only was that incredibly hard to accept, he knew that they had to tell Lily too. She loved Aaron and it wouldn’t be fair for him to just disappear without at least trying to explain. 

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know yet, sweetheart. But how about pancakes for breakfast?”

“Really?” she asked. 

Robert nodded and smiled at her. “Yes, really.”

Lily jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. “Aaron! Daddy says we’re having pancakes for breakfast!”

Robert heard Aaron laugh and knew that Lily had gone running straight into their bedroom to share the good news. His heart stuttered in his chest. He couldn’t imagine losing this.

***

After breakfast, Robert asked Lily to sit down on the sofa so that he and Aaron could talk to her. 

Aaron had spent much of breakfast nervously looking between Robert and Lily. He’d tried to keep up the pretence of everything being fine: he’d been just as sweet with Lily as he always was; he’d chatted away like everything was normal. But every time that Robert looked at him, he could see that he was on edge, just holding it together for all their sakes. It hurt to see. It hurt to know the reason why he was so anxious. 

Lily shuffled back on the sofa and Aaron and Robert sat on either side of her. She looked up at Robert with wide eyes and it was like she knew something was coming. 

“Are you alright, Daddy?” she asked quietly. 

Robert smiled tightly and nodded once. 

“I’m okay, sweetheart. But me and Aaron need to talk to you about something important.”

Lily looked between the two of them and waited. 

The problem was Robert didn’t really know what to say or how to start. He looked over the top of Lily’s head to Aaron, imploring him for help. 

Aaron cleared his throat. “Lils...I’ve...I’ve got to leave for a while.”

Her eyes widened even further at the words.

“I’ve got something really important to do,” Aaron added.

“Is it because of yesterday? Because you and Daddy were arguing?” Lily asked quietly. “Is it because I ran away?”

Robert felt his heart thud painfully in his chest. He was about to speak but Aaron continued quickly. 

“No,” Aaron said immediately. He took her little hand in his and squeezed it gently. “It’s nothing to do with that. Me and Daddy have sorted all of that out, I promise. What happened yesterday wasn’t your fault at all and nobody is cross about anything anymore, okay?”

Lily nodded, but Robert could see the frown on her face. 

“So why do you have to go?” she asked.

Aaron sighed softly. “Well, I need to go and do something really important for work.”

“You don’t go to work,” Lily said as bluntly as only a five year old could manage. 

Even in the situation they were in, Robert felt a tiny smile tug at his lips and he saw Aaron having the same reaction. 

“I know,” Aaron agreed. “That’s very true. But, you see, I do actually have a job and I haven’t been to work for a very long time and now I need to go back because I have something really important to do.”

Lily looked between Aaron and Robert a little doubtfully. “But...how long will you be gone for?” she asked as she looked back at Aaron. 

Robert saw Aaron swallow thickly.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “Not too long, I hope.”

Again, Lily looked back at Robert. It was like she was hoping he’d say it wasn’t true. He tried to smile reassuringly at her, but he knew it wasn’t his best effort. 

“It’ll be alright, sweetheart. Aaron will come back when he’s done his job.”

Lily’s frown deepened. “But...I don’t want him to go,” she said. She turned to Aaron and her bottom lip started to tremble. “I don’t want you to go. I’ll miss you. What if you don’t come back?”

Aaron seemed to blink back his own tears. “I will come back. I...I will.” 

Robert wondered if he’d just stopped himself making a promise he didn’t know if he’d be able to keep. 

Lily suddenly lunged forwards and wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck. Immediately, he wrapped her up in a hug and squeezed her. He looked at Robert over the top of her head and Robert could see how hard all of this was for him. He could see that Aaron was going to miss Lily as much as she was going to miss him. And he could see the fear in Aaron’s eyes about what lay ahead. 

Eventually, Lily pulled away and she turned immediately to snuggle into Robert’s side. “Don’t worry, Daddy,” she said gently. “We’ll look after each other until Aaron comes home.”

It was Robert’s turn to wrap his arms around her and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He loved her so much. “Good job I’ve got you here to look after me,” he said with a soft chuckle. 

“It’ll be alright,” she said as she sat back and Robert smiled at her. He really hoped she was right. 

“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Why don’t you go up and get dressed and me and Aaron will tidy up a bit down here.”

Again Lily looked between them. “You aren’t going yet, are you?” she said to Aaron.

“I won’t go without saying goodbye. I promise,” Aaron replied. 

Lily seemed to accept that and she pushed herself up and off the sofa. She disappeared up the stairs and Robert watched as Aaron leant his head against the back of the sofa and blew out a long breath. 

“You alright?” he asked, as he reached out and touched Aaron’s arm.

Turning his head, Aaron smiled at him tightly. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. She’s...she’s such a good kid. I’m going to miss her.”

“Hey, you’ll be back before you know it,” Robert told him and he squeezed Aaron’s forearm. He didn’t know who he was trying to convince more: Aaron or himself. 

Aaron’s smile faltered a little. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, I will.”

***

They’d tidied up from breakfast and the job seemed to have taken longer than normal. Robert couldn’t help but think that they were both dragging their heels and taking more care over putting the pots away than they usually would. Neither of them were in any hurry to be finished because as soon as they were done, there would be no more excuses about why Aaron couldn’t get on the road. 

Eventually, they both stopped in the kitchen and stood facing one another. 

“So, I guess I should get my stuff and head off,” Aaron said. 

Robert just nodded. All of a sudden, he didn’t think he had any words available. He felt like he’d gone through the motions of getting up and preparing breakfast. He’d sat and listened to Aaron telling Lily that he had to go. He’d tried to keep up a positive front and he’d reassured Aaron and Lily that everything would be alright. And he didn’t think he’d really accepted that it was actually happening until that moment. Suddenly, the idea of it had become a reality and he didn’t want it to happen. 

“I...I don’t want you to go,” he murmured. 

Aaron sucked in a sharp breath. He closed the distance between them and placed his hands on Robert’s shoulders. Looking up at him, he just smiled softly. 

“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you. But it’s going to be alright,” he said quietly. 

“You’re going to come back, aren’t you?” Robert asked.

“Of course I am,” Aaron replied immediately. “As soon as this is sorted, and everything’s safe, nothing will keep me away.”

“But...” Robert couldn’t carry on. He trailed off and looked down at Aaron’s chest. 

“What? What is it?” Aaron asked.

Robert couldn’t look at him. He didn’t want to seem selfish, or needy, or pathetic. 

“Rob?”

“What if you get back to the life you had before all of this and you realise that’s what you want? What if you change your mind about coming back here? You never signed up for any of this. You said it yourself, you didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I wouldn’t blame you if...”

“Hey, stop,” Aaron cut him off. “I told you last night. I want all of this: you, Lily, our little family that we’ve made together. Robert, look at me.”

Slowly, Robert blew out a long breath and finally lifted his eyes to Aaron. 

“I want this. I want you. I’m not leaving you - not really. Okay? I love you and I’m coming back. Nothing will keep me away,” he repeated. 

Robert smiled a little at him and sniffed. “I’ll hold you to that.” He leant forward and pressed a kiss to Aaron’s lips, closing his eyes and just allowing himself to savour the moment. “I love you too,” he said as he pulled away and gazed at him. 

Aaron nodded once and pulled Robert into a hug. They stayed like that for a long time, just holding onto one another. 

Eventually, Aaron stepped away, rubbing at his face a little, and turned to head up the stairs, leaving Robert waiting in the kitchen. 

It didn’t take long before he reappeared and grabbed his coat from the hooks near the door. 

“Got everything?” Robert asked, but all he had was the bag he’d arrived with. It seemed so strange that he’d shoved everything back in there and was going to be leaving with just as little as he’d arrived with. The thing was he seemed to have taken up so much more space in Robert’s little house, but maybe it was actually his heart that he’d occupied rather than the physical space. 

Aaron nodded again. It seemed it was his turn to be lost for words. 

Robert stepped around him and called up the stairs and less than a minute later, Lily came bounding down them. 

“Aaron’s ready to go, sweetheart,” Robert told her. 

Looking at Aaron, he felt like the words were far from true. He didn’t look ready to go anywhere - not really. And he wasn’t ready to let him go either. 

Lily rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around Aaron’s legs. He bent down and scooped her up into his arms, pressing his face against her hair as she squeezed him tightly. 

“I’ll miss you,” she said quietly. Then she leant back in his arms and looked at him seriously. “Promise you’ll come back?” she asked. 

Aaron smiled at her. “Promise,” he replied simply. 

She nodded once and then pressed a kiss to his cheek. Aaron lowered her back to the floor and she moved to stand beside Robert, her little hand reaching for his. There were tears in her eyes but she seemed determined not to cry. Robert could sympathise with that. 

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Robert said. 

Aaron nodded quickly. “Yeah,” he replied gruffly. “And...I’ll try to get in touch. Let you know how it’s going.”

Robert gave him a watery smile and nodded, mirroring Aaron’s gesture. 

Stepping forward, Aaron wrapped his arms around him. He pressed his nose into Robert’s shoulder, drawing in a deep breath, and Robert did the same. 

“I love you,” Aaron murmured against his shoulder.

“Love you too,” Robert replied. 

They’d only said the words for the first time the day before, but he felt like neither of them could stop saying it now. It was like they needed to remind one another while they had the chance. 

Aaron pulled back and forced another smile onto his face. 

“See you soon,” he said. 

“Bye,” Robert managed to say without his voice cracking too much. 

“Bye, Aaron,” Lily said quietly. 

“See you, Lils. Look after your Daddy for me,” Aaron replied. 

Lily looked up at Robert’s face and nodded once. Robert stooped to pick her up and he didn’t think he’d ever been more grateful for one of her hugs than when she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.

Aaron smiled softly at them both before he grabbed his bag off the floor and walked towards the door. He turned back for just a moment and then opened the door and walked out. 

Robert watched as the door closed behind him and he felt rooted to the spot. He couldn’t watch Aaron drive away; he couldn’t bear the idea of waving him off. If he stayed inside, he could almost pretend that Aaron had just popped to the shop to get something. 

“It’ll be alright, Daddy,” Lily said quietly. “Aaron said he’ll come back.”

Robert finally tore his eyes away from the door and looked at her. He blinked rapidly to force back any tears that threatened to fall and made himself smile at her. 

“Of course he will,” he agreed. “He promised, didn’t he?”

Lily nodded firmly like that meant it was a done deal and Robert pressed a kiss to her cheek before he put her back down. 

She wandered back into the living room and Robert glanced back at the front door. He was sure he could hear a car driving away up the street: the car that had brought Aaron into his life was taking him away again. 

***

It had felt like a long morning and by the time the afternoon came, Robert had decided he was a terrible father. His melancholy over Aaron’s departure was rubbing off on Lily who was nowhere near her usual bubbly self. He’d tried to get himself together and pretend that everything was alright, but he knew he was doing a pretty poor job. Lily had grown quieter as the morning had gone on and it just made Robert feel worse. Because not only was he missing Aaron already - and worrying about him already - but he was making his five year old daughter miserable with his moping too. 

Eventually, he’d decided that a visit to Nana Diane was in order and Lily had immediately perked up. She loved visiting Diane, seeing as she spoiled her rotten like all good grandparents should, and Robert thought that she deserved a treat after the last few days. 

They’d only been at Diane’s for a short while when she’d picked up on Robert’s mood and offered to take Lily out to the cinema and then let her have a sleepover at her house. 

Robert could have kissed her. Although he felt a little guilty about leaving Lily with someone else, it was for the best for both of them. She needed someone to look after her who wasn’t being a misery and he needed some time to process theemotional rollercoaster of the last few days. He hoped by the next day, he’d have managed to get his head around everything and be feeling more positive about the fact that Aaron would be okay and he would come back and they would get to be together with no more secrets getting in the way. 

After popping home to collect an overnight bag for her and returning it to Diane’s, he’d kissed the top of Lily’s head, told her to be a good girl, and headed back to the house on his own. 

It seemed odd to be in the house all alone, knowing it would be quiet for the rest of the day and night. It was the first time he’d been completely by himself since Aaron had moved in all those months ago. He didn’t often send Lily to stay at other people’s houses - she’d had a few sleepovers at her friends’ houses, and she’d stayed with Vic and Diane - but he’d not really ever had much need to have the house to himself, or had much interest in going out for the night in the last few years. And since Aaron had been in his life, he’d been there every night too. So the silence in the house - the knowledge that he was completely on his own - was unusual. He wondered if it was a bad idea - surely his mind would be too free to wander and create worrying scenarios - but he knew that it was for the best. He had to get his head sorted so he could carry on and be the dad that Lily needed. As much as he was worried for Aaron, Lily had to be his priority. And at least he had her to focus on. Without her, he was pretty sure he’d be a complete wreck. 

He had a quiet afternoon, pottering about the house a bit, made himself something to eat for his tea, and then headed to bed for an early night.

By the morning, he wondered if he’d been too ambitious setting himself the goal of being ‘okay’ after a day. He hadn’t slept well and the Aaron-shaped space beside him in bed had just been a reminder of how badly he missed him and how desperately he wanted him to come home soon, and in one piece. 

Thankfully, he’d had a message from Aaron that evening. A simple text saying he’d made it safely to the police station and had managed to make it inside to his superiors, hopefully without being seen by too many other people. From the tone of the message - although maybe it was just Robert’s wishful thinking - he’d sounded positive and at the end he’d promised to be in touch soon. 

As soon as Robert woke up from his unsettled night, he checked his phone and was disappointed, but not that surprised, to find no new communication from Aaron. Wearily, he got up and got dressed. He knew he needed to put on a good front so that Lily wouldn’t pick up on his mood anymore. He was thankful for it being the half-term holiday because at least he didn’t have to rush about getting her off to school and Diane hadn’t insisted on a pick-up time either so Robert knew he had some time to psych himself up to face the day and face the potential questions from Lily, who seemed to have no concept of time and would undoubtedly be wondering if Aaron was coming home yet.

It was gone ten when there was a knock on the door and Robert pushed himself up off the sofa to go and see who it was. He couldn’t imagine Diane had brought Lily back, seeing as she adored the little girl and doting on her whenever she babysat. 

For a moment, Robert froze in the hallway on the way to the door. Through the frosted glass of the front door, he could make out the figure of a man with dark hair and a dark beard and a black coat and his desperate mind thought ‘ _Aaron_ ’. 

He rushed forward and yanked the door open, only to feel almost crushing disappointment when it wasn’t Aaron at all, but a man he didn’t recognise who was looking at him closely. 

“Can I help?” he asked, trying to keep the frustration and bitterness out of his tone. It wasn’t fair to take his upset out on this poor bloke. 

The man gave him an odd little smile. “I hope so, mate,” he said brightly. “I’m looking for Aaron. I think you might know him.”

It took a moment for Robert to process the words. When his brain caught up, his eyes widened and he shook his head slightly. He moved to close the door in the man’s face, but his hesitation had cost him valuable time, and the man pushed forwards suddenly with his full weight against the door. He forced his way inside, pushing Robert backwards and slamming him up against the wall. He kicked the door shut behind him as he pinned Robert to the wall with his arm across his chest. 

“So I take it you do know him then?” the man said with a nasty smirk. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whistles as I walk away casually*


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the amazing feedback on this fic! You are all inspiring me to keep writing when motivation is seriously hard to find in these strange times.   
> Hope you’re all well and finding ways to pass the time (like reading fic!).

Robert glared up at Ross from his position on one of the chairs from the dining table. It had been moved away from the table and Robert had been told in no uncertain terms to sit down and stay put. He was grateful he hadn’t been tied to it, but then he wondered if that was just what happened in movies. Looking at Ross, he wouldn’t put it past him to tie someone to a chair while he interrogated them or - his slightly panicked brain supplied- tortured them. Maybe Ross didn’t view him as a threat. Maybe he didn’t think Robert looked likely to make a break for freedom. He was right, of course: Robert wasn’t going to be pushing his luck. Even if he’d considered it, the aggression that Ross had already directed towards him soon discouraged any plans or ideas about escaping. 

From the moment that Robert had opened the front door to find the unexpected stranger outside, he’d known he was in trouble. The man had pushed him inside and pinned him against the wall as he’d kicked the front door closed behind them and cut off any hope of anyone passing by and noticing what was going on. 

“So I take it you do know him then?” the man had asked and Robert had been momentarily frozen in place. Not only by fear and worry and confusion, but by the strong arm across his chest, pinning him in place. 

The man had been smirking at him knowingly, but when Robert hadn’t answered or reacted immediately, his smile had fallen and he had slammed his free hand against the wall beside Robert’s head, making him flinch and his heart start pounding even faster. 

“Aaron Livesy,” he’d ground out. “Or maybe you know him by a different name.”

Robert had shaken his head quickly. One thing he’d been sure of was that he wouldn’t give Aaron up: he’d known he’d try his best to protect him from whoever was after him. 

The man had sighed heavily, like dealing with Robert was a massive effort, and he’d frowned at him. The hold he’d had on Robert had slackened ever so slightly. Foolishly, Robert had thought that maybe the whole ordeal would be over before anything too drastic had happened. He’d been completely unprepared for the hand moving quickly and backhanding him across the face. His head had snapped to the side as pain had bloomed on his cheekbone and he’d staggered a little despite the wall at his back. He hadn’t been properly hit in the face for years: he’d forgotten how much it hurt. 

When he’d recovered from the sudden burst of pain ricocheting around in his head, he’d blinked at the man in shock. 

“Let’s try again, shall we?” the man had asked as he’d stared at Robert. “Aaron. Where is he?”

“I don’t...I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Robert had managed to say. 

The man had narrowed his eyes at Robert. Then he’d grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly directed him through to the living room. He’d scanned the room quickly, located one of the dining chairs and dragged Robert towards it. He’d pulled it away from the table and roughly shoved Robert down onto it. 

The man had taken a couple of steps away from Robert and then turned back to face him. “Funny thing,” he had said. “You can always rely on the gossipy locals when you’re in need of information. Like, when I went into that cafe up the road, the daft cow in there was more than happy to tell me all about Robert’s fella, Aaron, and where the two of you were shacked up.”

Robert had tried not to let the fear show on his face. They’d been found and there would be no talking his way out of it. He’d silently cursed Brenda and her big mouth, but he’d known that this was inevitable. As soon as someone had tracked Aaron down to the village, there would have been no escape. He had just been grateful that Aaron had already left. 

“So, you must be Robert,” the man had said with a funny little smirk on his face. 

Robert had decided in that moment that he wasn’t going to be a victim in all of this. Despite how his cheekbone had been throbbing and how he’d been terrified about how the situation would end, he hadn’t wanted the man before him to see how scared he really was.

“And you must be Ross,” he’d said and watched as a flicker of surprise had flashed across the man’s face. 

“Been running his mouth, has he?” Ross had asked snidely. “Bet he’s had you wrapped around his finger. Don’t suppose he’s told you all of his dirty little secrets though. Don’t suppose he’s told you he’s a murderer.”

Robert had tipped his head up in defiance. 

“I know everything,” he’d said simply. “Aaron told me the whole story.”

Ross’s eyes had narrowed again and it had been obvious that he was shocked that Robert did actually seem to know what had gone on. 

“Where is he?” Ross had ground out.

“Not here,” Robert had replied. He hadn’t known where his sudden bravery had come from. Maybe he had been motivated by the fact that he wasn’t prepared to let anything happen to Aaron. 

“Don’t mess me about,” Ross had replied and the frustration had already been building in his tone. “Where is he?”

“He’s not here,” Robert had repeated. “So you’re wasting your time.”

Ross had scoffed at his words and stepped a little closer. “Maybe I’ve got time to waste. Maybe, when you’re looking for the son of a bitch that killed your brother, you’ve got all the time in the world.”

And then he’d stepped away and started wandering around Robert’s living room inspecting things as he went. 

Robert watched him closely. He knew he couldn’t make a break for it and run. He’d never make it to the front door in time. And his phone was lying on the coffee table: out of reach and useless to him in that moment. 

His face was still throbbing and he was sure he was going to have a nasty bruise. The initial adrenaline of the moment when Ross had arrived was wearing off and he was beginning to feel more anxious as the seconds trickled by. His brave front was already beginning to desert him as he nervously tracked Ross’s movements around the room.

“So if he’s not here,” Ross suddenly said as he turned back to face him. “Where is he?”

Robert debated what he should say. He didn’t want to give Aaron’s plan away and he didn’t want to reveal too much about when or where he’d gone. 

“He left,” he eventually replied.

“I see,” Ross said. He came and stood in front of Robert again and Robert braced himself, prepared for another smack around the face for his less than helpful answer. 

“And where did he go?” Ross asked. He almost sounded calm and reasonable. 

“I don’t know,” Robert told him. “A couple of days ago I woke up and he was gone.”

Ross tipped his head to the side and pouted at Robert. “Now, you see, I know that’s a lie. I know because your friend at the café told me she’d seen him the day before last, running up the street in a bit of panic.”

Robert’s eyes widened and he expected Ross to explode, but he just smirked at him and then he reached inside his jacket. Rather casually, he pulled his hand out again and Robert sucked in a breath as he leant back in his chair when he saw the gun he was holding. 

“I don’t like being lied to,” Ross said simply. 

He pointed the gun at Robert and smiled. 

“So, where is he?” he asked again.

“I don’t know!” Robert replied desperately. “He’s gone. He left. I’m telling you the truth.”

He’d been prepared for getting roughed up a bit. He’d been ready to face Ross’s anger when he didn’t give him the information he wanted. But, despite what Aaron had told him about the violent gang he’d been spying on, he was still shocked by the appearance of the gun. The knowledge that the man before him clearly had no qualms about carrying a gun and pointing it at innocent people sent a cold shiver of dread through Robert. 

He hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d had nothing to do with the gang and hadn’t been involved with the police operation but it seemed that Ross didn’t care about such minor details. It seemed his only concern was finding Aaron and harming him with no regard for who got in his way. 

Robert shuddered involuntarily as he pictured what might have happened if Ross had arrived on their doorstep at the same time the day before. Aaron would have been there and Robert knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Ross would have shot him the moment he saw him. Aaron would have been killed if he’d stayed a day longer and the thought almost brought tears to Robert’s eyes. 

Ross didn’t move for a long time. His arm was still outstretched with the gun still pointing at Robert. He seemed to be thinking and somehow that worried Robert more. He couldn’t imagine what horrible plan he was concocting. 

“Well, I guess you’d better give him a call then,” Ross said casually, like it was obvious and Robert probably should’ve already suggested it. 

Robert swallowed thickly. He couldn’t ring Aaron: Ross would either make him lie and lure him back, or tell him what was going on and Aaron would come rushing back to help. Either way it was exactly what Ross wanted and Robert knew it would end in Aaron getting hurt, or worse killed, and he just couldn’t do it. 

“No,” he replied quietly, knowing his voice sounded shaky and nowhere near as confident as he hoped it would. He feared how Ross would react to his refusal. 

“What?” Ross asked sharply.

“No, I won’t do it,” Robert told him. He watched Ross apprehensively waiting for him to flip and attack. 

Ross frowned. “What do you mean you won’t do it?” 

Robert drew in a deep breath. “I’m not calling him and dragging him back here just for you to...I won’t do it.” He shook his head firmly. 

A harsh laugh burst out of Ross and he closed the distance between them swiftly. Despite knowing it was inevitable that Ross would lose his patience, Robert didn’t even have time to move as Ross grabbed the front of his shirt tightly, yanking him forward, and then pressed the gun against his neck, just below his ear. 

Robert had never been so terrified in his whole life. The feeling of the gun digging into his skin, knowing that Ross wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, filled Robert with absolute horror. He tried to move away, but it was useless: Ross was holding him too firmly in place. His mind was filled with thoughts of Lily suddenly. He was going to be shot and killed in his own home and he wasn’t ever going to see her again; she was going to grow up without her father. Tears burned his eyes at the thought of it. 

“ _Please_ ,” he begged desperately. “Please don’t do this.”

“But I asked so nicely and you said no,” Ross replied. “If you won’t do it, why else do I need to keep you around?”

Robert couldn’t answer and he couldn’t agree to what Ross wanted. No matter what might happen, he couldn’t knowingly put Aaron in danger like that. 

“And besides, this will serve him right, won’t it? He killed my brother. I’ll kill you. Then we’ll be halfway to being even.”

Robert squeezed his eyes closed. There would be no reasoning with Ross: there was no way out of this. But surely he had to try. He couldn’t just give up. 

“Look...” he gasped, “you don’t have to do this. You can just go. I won’t tell the police...I won’t tell Aaron you were here.” 

It was a blatant lie and Ross barked out another laugh because he clearly knew it too. “You’re not as good at lying as your precious boyfriend, are you?” He ground the gun into Robert’s neck a little harder and Robert let out a groan of pain. If Ross didn’t shoot him, he was going to have another colourful bruise. 

Suddenly, a soft ping from the coffee table caught both of their attention. The gun against Robert’s skin dropped away as Ross turned and looked at Robert’s phone.

“Wonder who that could be,” he said like they were mates winding each other up.

‘ _Please not Aaron_ ,’ Robert desperately thought as he watched Ross move over to pick up his phone. He’d never been so desperate for a text about his monthly bill to have come through. 

Ross grabbed the phone and he scanned the message on the screen. Then he lifted his eyes and smiled at Robert. 

“‘Morning love. Lily’s had a good night and she’s been good as gold,” Ross read from the screen. “Smiley emoji. Aw, that’s nice,” he taunted before he continued. “‘Me and Vic thought we’d take her into Hotten for some girl time if that’s ok. _Or_ ,’” and he put special emphasis on the word, “‘do you want me to bring her home so you can spend the day together?’”

Robert’s heart had sunk as soon as the first words had been read aloud. As soon as Ross had said Lily’s name, he’d felt sick. Instant panic crawled up his throat and he wanted to scream. 

Ross smiled at him as he turned the phone over in his hands. 

“Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it?” he said brightly. He started to move around the room again and stopped in front of the bookcase. Reaching out, he grabbed a photo frame and turned back to Robert with the same smile still plastered on his face. He held up the frame and Robert saw the photo - one of his favourites - him and Lily earlier on in the year, her on his back as he gave her a piggy back and she laughed with delight. Aaron had taken it on his phone and sent it to him and he’d had to print it because it was such a lovely photo of the two of them. 

Ross tapped the glass of the frame with the end of his gun and Robert shuddered. 

“This must be Lily,” he said and Robert hated even hearing her name from him. 

“Cute kid. She looks very happy. Wonder if she knows where Aaron got to.”

It was an automatic response. Robert didn’t even think as he pushed himself up from his chair, closed the distance in a few quick strides, and launched himself towards Ross. He had no plan: all he knew was this man was a threat to his little girl and he wouldn’t let him anywhere near her. He’d clearly caught Ross off-guard because he managed to land a punch to his jaw, but Ross was obviously used to fighting, whereas Robert clearly wasn’t, and within seconds, he was pinned to the floor, after taking an elbow to the chin, with Ross above him holding the gun to his head again. His heart was pounding wildly, he could feel blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth where his teeth had caught his lip, but he stared up at Ross defiantly. He’d kill him if he went anywhere near Lily. 

“It seems we’ve found what motivates you then,” Ross said as he glared down at Robert. It was cold comfort seeing the red mark on his jaw from Robert’s punch. “Guess you’ve got a choice to make: you get Aaron back here, or I think I’ll be replying to that message to say you’d rather Lily came home. I’m sure she’d like to meet me.”

Ross stood up and walked back to grab the phone that he’d dropped when Robert had attacked him. 

“So, what’s it to be?” he asked as Robert carefully pushed himself up off the floor. 

And what was he supposed to do? There was no question that he wouldn’t let Lily be anywhere near this. His little girl was the most important thing in his world. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe. But that meant sacrificing Aaron’s safety. 

He could almost hear Aaron’s voice in his head telling him it was the right thing to do, the _only_ thing to do. But the idea of luring Aaron back, lying to him to get him back here so that he wouldn’t be prepared for what was waiting, so he’d walk into an ambush, was too awful to contemplate. 

Ross sighed heavily. “Time’s up,” he snapped. 

“Alright, alright,” Robert said as he held his hands up placatingly. “I’ll help you. Just...leave my daughter out of this.”

It felt like his mind was whirring at a hundred thoughts a second as he tried to come up with a way out of this, or at least a way to warn Aaron. 

“Sit down,” Ross ordered, and Robert dejectedly made his way back to the chair that he’d been sitting in before. 

“Where’s Aaron?” Ross asked for what felt like the hundredth time since he’d arrived. 

Robert knew that he could be creative with the truth. He didn’t have to tell Ross everything and then maybe Aaron still stood a chance. 

“He left last night,” he replied through gritted teeth. He’d decided that maybe if he didn’t tell Ross about the police, Aaron might not come back alone. He was desperate, clutching at straws. 

“Where did he go?” Ross asked. He seemed pleased that they were finally getting somewhere. 

“He went to see his family. He hadn’t heard anything from his mum for a few days and he was worried.” Robert blinked up at Ross. “He was worried that someone had found out where she lived.”

Ross huffed out a laugh and smirked at Robert again. It seemed like he was quite amused by the idea of causing Aaron to worry. “Lucky for her we didn’t find out. But we found you, so maybe that’s even better.”

Robert scowled at him. Ross really was a dick and Robert hated him. 

Pulling Robert’s phone out of his back pocket, Ross held it out to him. 

“Unlock it,” he ordered. 

Robert took the phone with a trembling hand and pressed his thumb against the button to unlock it. Immediately, Ross snatched it back out of his hand and tapped away quickly before he turned it back to Robert showing Aaron’s name and number on the screen.

“We’re going to make a phone call now,” he said calmly. “You’re going to get him to come back here. If you say anything to warn him about me, I’m going to reply to this message about your kid and get her brought back here. And then I’ll probably kill you because, you know, kids need to learn from a young age that you shouldn’t be a grass.” He said it all so rationally, like it was perfectly normal to be threatening Robert and forcing him at gun point to do this. 

Robert’s heart was pounding in his chest again and his hands were still shaking.

“Are you ready? Know what you’re going to say?” Ross asked.

Robert clenched his jaw and nodded once. 

“Remember: one word, one fucking _breath_ that sounds wrong, and he won’t be able to help you or your kid.”

Sucking in a breath, Robert nodded again.

Ross touched the screen, tapped speaker, and they waited for the call to connect. He pointed the gun at Robert as he held the phone towards him. 

“Rob? Are you ok?” Aaron asked as soon as he answered the call. Robert wanted to cry just hearing his voice. 

“Hi, yeah, I’m fine,” Robert replied, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. “How’s your mum?” he asked immediately, without letting Aaron get another word in and potentially unwittingly give the game away.

“What?” Aaron asked and Robert could hear the confusion. 

“How’s your mum?” he repeated firmly. 

There was a pause on the end of the line and Robert felt his palms start to sweat. 

“She’s fine,” Aaron eventually replied. “Pleased to see me. Fussing.”

Robert released the breath he’d been holding as he waited for Aaron’s next words. Aaron had obviously realised that something was going on and thankfully he was playing along. Robert wondered if he had any idea how dangerous the game was. Ross was still watching him closely, clearly hanging on every word and waiting for a sign that the conversation was unusual. 

“Am I on speaker phone? You sound miles away,” Aaron asked. 

Robert looked up at Ross and he lifted an eyebrow at him. 

“Um, yeah. I’m just doing some jobs in the kitchen. When are you coming home?”

“I don’t know,” Aaron answered.

“Well, I...I kind of need you to come back,” Robert said. He hated having to do this. 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Robert sighed heavily. “It’s...it’s Lily. You know what she’s like. She’s been running me ragged since you left. She’s kicking off every time I ask her to do something. I just...I really need your help.”

He hated lying to Aaron. He hated using Lily like that. He hated saying those blatantly untrue things about her. But he knew that Aaron would understand that there was something going on because Lily wasn’t like that and they both knew it. All he could do was hope that Aaron got the message that he was so desperately trying to give.

There was another pause and Robert could almost picture Aaron’s face as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. Just...just keep doing what you’re doing and everything will be alright.”

“Thank you,” Robert said. 

“I’ll see you soon,” Aaron told him. “I won’t be long. I promise.”

“See you soon,” Robert replied. 

Aaron ended the call and Ross smiled at Robert as he put the phone back in his pocket. 

“See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

Robert just glared at him. 

And now they had to wait. He had no idea how long it would take Aaron to return and what would happen when he did. The only comfort he had was that Aaron must have known something was wrong. The conversation had been weird enough, with enough strange, inaccurate comments, that only they would be aware of, that he must have picked up on the fact that Robert was saying everything under duress. He only hoped it would be enough to save them all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Ross.


	10. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the amazing feedback and support with this fic - it means so much to me.   
> I think we’re probably near the end - I see one more chapter after this.

Despite still being stuck at Ross’s mercy, Robert was relieved. It seemed stupid to even think it - he was still trapped with a violent thug, holding a gun - but at least Lily was safe. 

For all of his many other dodgy characteristics, it seemed that Ross stuck to his word because, as soon as the call to Aaron had been disconnected, he’d looked at Robert and asked him what he wanted to send back to the text about Lily. 

“You better tell me what to put,” he’d said. “Don’t want anyone noticing anything’s off.”

Robert had looked at him nervously: Aaron noticing something was ‘off’ was exactly what he was hoping for after their phone conversation. He had had to swallow down the lump in his throat that had formed and draw in a steadying breath before he’d been able to reply. He wouldn’t have put it past someone like Ross to have lied to him and still asked for Lily to be brought back to the house, just to secure Robert’s compliance, so knowing that she actually would be safe and far away from the village, had filled Robert with relief. 

“Just say...just put that I’m sure she’d love a girl’s day out. And then tell them to go out for some lunch...my treat,” he’d told Ross. He’d wanted to keep Lily, and the rest of his family, away from the village for as long as possible. 

Ross had merely grunted in reply before he’d started typing out the message. He’d held it up for Robert to check before he’d hit send, and then he’d shoved the phone back in his pocket. 

“See, I’m quite a reasonable bloke,” Ross had told him and he’d given Robert another one of those smiles that Robert was beginning to hate. He’d ignored him and looked away from Ross’s irritating smirk.

They’d fallen into silence for a while as Ross still prowled around the living room, occasionally peering out of the windows, and Robert remained in his chair watching him. 

Robert couldn’t help but look at the smashed photo frame on the floor where Ross had dropped it after Robert had leapt at him in blind fury. From his position, he could just make out the two smiling faces in the photo: him and Lily. He knew he had to hold onto hope that he’d done the right thing. He’d done what he had for Lily and he knew that Aaron would have wanted him to. He knew that Aaron would forgive him. He knew that they’d both sacrifice their own safety to protect her from all of this and the thought of it almost brought tears to Robert’s eyes again. Because he loved his little girl, and Aaron loved her too. So much. None of them deserved what was happening. 

“So he’s some sort of super nanny, is he?” Ross suddenly asked, breaking the silence. 

Robert just frowned at him. 

“Aaron,” Ross said bluntly. “Fancies himself as some sort of child whisperer? Mary Poppins? Helping you with your little brat.”

Robert clenched his jaw. How dare this arsehole talk about his child like that? But he bit his tongue. He knew he’d painted the picture of Lily being a troublesome child and Ross had clearly believed it so he couldn’t afford to react now and give the game away. He just scowled at Ross disdainfully. 

“Can’t believe it,” Ross continued, seemingly oblivious to Robert’s annoyance. “He didn’t seem the sort to be interested in spending time with kids or playing happy families. Seemed too rough for all that.” He sneered at Robert. “But maybe that was all part of the show. He’s a good actor - I’ll give him that. Everything about him is a lie, but that’ll catch up with him soon.” He tapped the gun against his thigh and lifted an eyebrow as if he were reminding Robert what was going to happen when Aaron arrived. 

Robert held his tongue. He didn’t want to engage in conversation about his family with Ross. And he didn’t want to hear Ross make any more comments about Aaron. 

The silence fell between them again and Robert couldn’t help but glance at his watch. He had no idea what Aaron would be doing now. Had he understood Robert’s desperate attempts to send him a message? And, if he’d known what Robert was doing, had he understood exactly what he’d meant? There was no way he could know that Ross was holding him hostage - it was impossible for Robert to have conveyed that information - but did he realise that Aaron’s dealings with the gang had caught up to them? Did he realise there was a very real threat to his life waiting for him at the house when he arrived? 

And when would he arrive? How long would it take? And if he arrived, would he be alone? Or had he understood enough to come prepared? With back-up maybe? Or was that just wishful thinking? Was he putting too much faith in something he didn’t understand? 

Robert’s mind felt like it was spinning with possibilities and fear about what might happen, and the blows to the head and face he’d received courtesy of Ross weren’t helping, giving him a thumping headache and a throbbing face on top of his other problems. 

Carefully, not making any sudden movements that might cause a reaction from Ross, he lifted his hand and wiped at his mouth where he could feel the blood still dribbling from his split lip. He knew he must look a mess - bloodied and bruised - and Aaron was going to be furious at Ross when he saw the state of him. He just hoped everyone could stay calm enough to walk out of the house in one piece. As much as he despised Ross, and wanted him to get what was coming to him, he didn’t exactly want him getting shot in his living room. 

And then it occurred to him that Ross was planning to hurt Aaron, probably attempt to kill him, because he still believed that Aaron was responsible for his brother’s death. Ross believed that Aaron had shot and killed Finn. And Robert knew that he was wrong. Maybe if he could explain to Ross, defend Aaron in his absence, it might be enough to make Ross stop and ask questions before he acted. If he could put enough doubt into Ross’s head, he might not pull the trigger before Aaron had chance to say anything. 

He swallowed thickly. He didn’t really want to strike up a conversation with Ross. And he didn’t want to say anything that might infuriate Ross and cause him to lash out with violence again. But he couldn’t stay silent: he couldn’t sit on the knowledge that might be enough to save Aaron. 

Clearing his throat, Robert watched Ross closely. 

“Aaron didn’t kill your brother, you know,” he said as confidently as he could manage. 

Ross looked at him abruptly and he narrowed his eyes. “What?” he snapped.

Robert kept his eyes on Ross, cautious as he wondered if this might tip him over the edge. 

“Aaron. He didn’t kill your brother,” he repeated. 

Ross snorted. “Yeah? And what would you know about it?”

“He told me,” Robert said simply. “He told me what happened and I believe him.”

Ross gave him a sarcastic smile and tilted his head slightly. “Well, then I guess you must be right. Of course he didn’t do it.”

“Think about it - he’s with the police,” Robert continued. He was unsure of how far he could push this, but not willing to give up. If he could plant a tiny seed of doubt in Ross’s head, it might just be enough. “It’s not their usual style to shoot people in cold blood, is it? That’s generally the sort of thing they try to prevent.”

“Yeah, well he knew he was in the shit. Desperate people do desperate things. If he knew he only had one chance to get out of there, he’d have taken it, even if that meant killing my brother,” Ross replied. 

Robert drew in a breath. His next words might be what made Ross snap, but it had to be worth the risk. “But would he really have needed to kill him?” he asked. “Did your brother really pose that much of a threat? Not from what Aaron told me.”

Ross frowned and he looked almost thoughtful for a moment. But then his face hardened again. 

“You’d better shut your mouth. You weren’t there,” he repeated. “You know nothing.”

“I know what Aaron told me about Finn. I know that he wouldn’t have needed to kill him to escape.”

Ross shook his head angrily. He strode towards Robert and waved the gun at him as he spoke. It seemed like Robert’s words had touched a nerve as he erratically yelled and gesticulated with the weapon. Robert couldn’t help but flinch, fearing that Ross might just shoot him to shut him up, or by accident with the way he was behaving. 

“You’re a fucking idiot if you fell for that bullshit. Aaron murdered my brother and he’s going to pay,” Ross growled. 

Robert had pressed himself back in his chair although it was obviously pointless. It wasn’t like he could get away from Ross and his violent tendencies. But despite his fear that Ross might just shoot him, or at least punch him again, he felt like maybe his words were working. Maybe he was managing to unsettle Ross just enough to make him wonder if everything was as it seemed. 

“Don’t you want to know for sure though?” he pressed and part of his brain - the part that was all about self-preservation - was screaming at him that it was time to be quiet. “What if you get your revenge on the wrong person?” 

“Shut up!” Ross snapped. “I’ll kill you before he gets here if you don’t shut the fuck up.”

With that, Ross turned and began pacing around the room again. His knuckles were white from clutching the gun so tightly. Robert tracked his every move carefully. 

Eventually, he stopped and turned back to Robert.

“Finn fancied him, you know?” he said suddenly as he glared at Robert. “And your precious Aaron used that. He played on the fact that my dope of a brother liked him and he used that to get closer to us.” He gave Robert a nasty, sneering smile. “Makes you think, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s what he did with you. Maybe he knew you had a thing for him so he used you too. Maybe he doesn’t give a shit about you at all. I mean, he’s a bloody good liar, after all. Had us all fooled into thinking he was with us when all along he was a filthy pig. He’s pretty good at playing a part.”

Robert knew what Ross was trying to do, knew he was trying to make him question what he believed, just like he been doing earlier on in the conversation, but it still hurt. He knew that Aaron would have done whatever he needed to to get onside with the gang and it sounded like Finn had ended up getting caught in the crossfire. And knowing Aaron, that would be something that would probably haunt him for a long time. 

Robert chewed on the inside of his cheek, but he didn’t reply. He decided to quit while he was ahead - if he could be ahead at all in this situation. He just hoped that somehow what he’d said had given Ross something to think about. 

Silence fell between them again - Ross clearly thinking he’d ‘won’ in their conversation when Robert didn’t respond - and they waited. Ross waited for the man he wanted revenge on. Robert for the man he loved. 

***

Time had never gone so slowly in Robert’s life. There hadn’t been anything to occupy his thoughts apart from fear and apprehension, and there had been no conversation between Robert and his captor since their heated discussion about Aaron and Finn. 

Eventually, when Robert was almost giving up hope that anyone was coming, the sound of a car pulling up outside the house, and the engine being turned off, caught their attention. 

Immediately, Ross jumped to his feet. The gun was back in his hand as he glanced towards the front door. There was an eagerness in his expression - like he was keen to do what he’d set out to - but also a nervousness in the way he hovered uncertainly in the living room doorway for a few moments. 

Looking back at Robert, he moved into the opposite corner of the room so that he couldn’t be seen from the hallway, but he still had a clear view of whoever walked through the door into the room. 

Then he pointed the gun at Robert, who was still sitting in his chair. 

“One word to warn him...” he hissed. “One word and you’re dead.”

Robert knew he was looking between Ross and the doorway with wide eyes. Part of him desperately wanted to make a run for the door, but he didn’t doubt Ross’s threats, and he knew he’d end up with a bullet in his back before he made it to Aaron and his freedom. 

There was a scraping sound as a key was pushed into the lock and then the door opened slowly. 

“Robert?” Aaron called out. 

Robert glanced back at Ross. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to scream at Aaron to run. He wanted him to get out of there while he still could. But he was terrified and he knew, he just knew, that Aaron wouldn’t leave him. As soon as Robert even tried to get him to go, Aaron would refuse and he’d stay with him. And he wouldn’t even stand a chance of warning him anyway. Ross would shoot him as soon as he’d opened his mouth to attempt to tell him about the danger and then he’d go after Aaron too. 

It was hopeless.

“Rob?” Aaron called again, and he was obviously still standing just inside the doorway. 

Maybe if Robert didn’t speak, Aaron would assume he wasn’t there and leave. Maybe that was the best he could do to help him. 

Ross glared at Robert. He nodded his head forcefully in the direction of the front door.

Robert’s heart was pounding in his chest. He watched as Ross’s nostrils flared in annoyance. His thumb moved and there was a quiet click as he prepared the gun to shoot Robert. 

And then the front door closed. 

For a moment, Robert didn’t know if Aaron was still there and then his shoulders slumped as he heard the jingle of keys being slid inside a pocket and soft footsteps in the hallway.

“Robert?” Aaron called for the third time and Robert could imagine him leaning sideways to look up the stairs. 

It was too late to stop Aaron now. He was going to walk into the room at any moment.

“I’m...I’m in here,” he replied and he could hear the tremor in his own voice. He wondered if Aaron could tell that something was wrong, how scared he was, from just those few words.

A few more footsteps and Aaron slowly, almost cautiously, walked through the doorway into the lounge. His eyes fell on Robert immediately and the shock at seeing him battered and bruised was obvious. 

“Rob? Oh my god,” he gasped as he stepped towards him.

Robert shook his head, wanted to scream at him to turn around, but it was too late. 

“Glad you could finally join us,” Ross said from the corner and Aaron whipped around to face him. Ross had the gun pointing at Aaron now as he moved out of his hiding place. 

“I’m sorry, Aaron,” Robert said quietly.

Aaron didn’t look at him as he held up his hands to show he wasn’t armed in any way and it was almost like he’d been expecting this. Maybe he had been and Robert’s attempt to warn him had worked. But, if he knew that Ross was there, why had he come wandering in so unprepared, alone and without any form of protection? The relief Robert had felt at hearing his voice and knowing he was there was quickly overshadowed by his terrible fear about what was going to happen next.

“What the hell have you done to him?” Aaron asked as he waved his arm in Robert’s direction. The anger was obvious and Robert couldn’t help but think he wasn’t in any position to be asking questions. 

Ross smirked. “Let’s just say that loverboy needed some persuading before he’d help me out.”

“You son of a bitch,” Aaron ground out. 

“Rude. But do you know what? He’s tougher than he looks. He still wouldn’t play ball...not until I threatened the brat.” It looked and sounded like Ross was enjoying himself. He was getting a kick out of tormenting Aaron with what had gone on while he was gone. 

Aaron’s face had paled at the words. Without turning fully away from Ross, he glanced at Robert. 

“Lily? Where is she?” he asked desperately. 

“She’s safe,” Robert managed to reply. 

“Don’t worry,” Ross interrupted. “She’s fine - for now. But don’t try anything clever because I know how to get her back here pretty quick.”

Aaron looked furious. The two people he cared about most in the world were in danger, but he tried to give Robert a reassuring nod. 

“This has got nothing to do with Robert. Or Lily. This is between me and you.”

“No kidding,” Ross agreed. “But seeing as he was the best way of getting to you, I’d say he’s involved now.”

“Let Robert go,” Aaron said firmly. 

“Aaron, no!” Robert objected. He couldn’t leave him there. No chance. Even if Ross agreed, he wouldn’t just walk out and leave Aaron. 

Ross huffed out a bitter laugh. “You’re as bad as one another. He didn’t want to do what I told him and you’re trying to get him out of here. Are you that stupid? Or do you think I am?” he asked. “There’s no way I’m letting him walk out of here so he can ring the police. And you’re not exactly calling the shots here, are you?” he said as he waved the gun in his hand a little. 

“It’s nothing to do with Robert,” Aaron repeated. 

Ross nodded. “Yeah, and it wasn’t really anything to do with Finn either, was it?”

Aaron’s face fell a little. “I didn’t kill Finn.”

“You’re a liar,” Ross replied coldly. 

“I’m not,” Aaron said. “I didn’t kill him.”

“Do you want to explain how he ended up dead then? You were with him at the warehouse. You got caught out and you had to get out of there. I know what happened.”

“No, you don’t,” Aaron replied quickly. “It wasn’t like that. Yes, we were there. And yes, he found out the truth, but I didn’t kill him. I tried to get him to come with me - you know that life wasn’t for him. He never belonged there with the gang. He didn’t have a clue what was really going on. I’m right, you know I am.”

Ross’s eyes narrowed, but at least he was listening to Aaron instead of just avenging his brother’s supposed murder without stopping to think. 

“I told him I could keep him safe - put him in protective custody - but he wouldn’t have it. He said he couldn’t let you down. He was going to try to stop me but do you honestly think he stood a chance? I knew that if I walked out of there and it didn’t look like Finn had even tried to stop me, the gang would take it out on him.”

Ross was watching Aaron like he clearly didn’t understand where the conversation was leading but Robert was bracing himself for Aaron’s next words. He knew that Ross was likely to kick off as soon as Aaron told him that he had actually shot Finn, even if it was only in the arm. 

Aaron visibly swallowed before he continued: he obviously knew how volatile the situation was too and how easily Ross might be tipped over the edge by his words.

“To make it seem like we’d fought but I’d overpowered him, I shot him in the arm,” Aaron said quickly. 

“I knew it!” Ross shouted. “You fucking killed him!” He jabbed the gun in Aaron’s direction and his eyes seemed to flash pure hatred.

“No, no!” Aaron said as he shook his head. “I only shot him in the arm. I told him why I’d done it and checked that he wasn’t too badly hurt before I left. The bullet had gone through his arm cleanly, hadn’t hit anything vital or anything, so he wasn’t in any danger. I’m telling you, Ross, when I walked out of that warehouse, Finn was alive and he should’ve still been that way when you got back there.”

It seemed like Ross was genuinely questioning what he thought he knew. He was staring at Aaron, hardly blinking as he tried to process the words. 

“He’d been shot three times when I got there,” Ross muttered and it wasn’t clear if he was talking to himself or Aaron. 

“Was one of them in the arm?” Aaron asked.

Ross nodded slowly. 

“Who was there? When you got back to the warehouse, who was already there?” Aaron asked. It was obvious to Robert that he was trying to make Ross see the truth for himself. 

“Loads of them,” Ross replied. He looked a little wide-eyed suddenly, like things were falling into place. “They said they’d found him.”

Aaron nodded once. “And what did they do after that? What did they do with Finn?”

Pain flickered across Ross’s face as he remembered something. “They...they said we had to get rid of his body. They took him...” He trailed off, clearly not willing to relive what had happened to his dead brother. 

“They needed to get rid of the evidence. You know how they work, Ross. You know that they don’t like people letting them down and you know that they would’ve taken any opportunity to frame me for killing him. They got rid of him because he’d not stopped me leaving and they saw him as a liability, and then they used it as a perfect chance to pin it on me. They knew you’d come after me - you wouldn’t let it go. And if you didn’t track me down, they could use the murder as a way to get my face out there so I couldn’t hide anymore.” Aaron paused for a moment to let it all sink in. “It wasn’t me,” he said firmly. “I didn’t kill Finn.”

Ross looked frozen to the spot for a moment and Robert actually started to believe that maybe they were going to be alright. Maybe they would walk away from this without anymore violence. But then Ross’s lip curled up and he almost looked like he was snarling at Aaron. 

“Good job, trying to save your skin. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t kill him!” he shouted. He used the gun to emphasise his words as he jabbed it towards Aaron again. “You’re still a fucking rat. You were still lying and sneaking about and feeding your information back to get us all banged up. You’re still a fucking copper.” 

Whilst Ross had been ranting, Aaron’s eyes had widened. He’d obviously been hoping that he’d got Ross calm enough to get them out of this mess, but suddenly realised that they weren’t that lucky. 

“You’re right,” he said as he held up his hands placatingly. “You’re right. I am a copper. And that means I can help you, okay? I don’t think your heart was ever really in it, was it? You weren’t involved in all the worst of it. I can get you a deal, alright? I can help you.”

Robert didn’t know how much of that was true. From what Aaron had told him, it seemed that Ross was more of a paid thug than any sort of top dog in the gang. And he wasn’t sure if Aaron could get him a deal, or if he’d even want to after what he’d done, but he was desperately hoping that Ross believed him. 

Ross barked out a harsh laugh. “I don’t need your fucking help!” he spat. “You’re nothing in all of this. You think you can pull some strings and help me? You’ve got no idea. Haven’t you figured it out yet? Haven’t you realised that, even if you go back to your police buddies, you’re a fucking dead man? I might as well do you a favour and shoot you now because at least that’d be quick. If they get their hands on you, you’ll be wishing for bullet between the eyes.”

Robert saw Aaron tense. He knew that Aaron had been convinced that someone on the force had sold him out to the gang, that there was a mole who had leaked his identity to them, but it seemed that Ross was confirming everything. 

“There’s someone from the force working for the gang?” Aaron asked.

Ross laughed again. “Working for them? Fucking hell.” He smirked as he shook his head like Aaron had said something particularly stupid. “He’s the bloke in charge.”

“What?” Aaron gasped. It was clear that the information had shocked him. It had shocked Robert too. The person running a violent gang was a police officer. 

“You’ve got no idea how deep this goes, how much shit you’re in,” Ross told him and he seemed to be gloating about it. “There are plenty of bent coppers working for him - he’s got them all in his pocket and he’s pulling the strings. He’s got so many people working for him, I’m surprised it took him so long to work out who you really were. But you weren’t from Liverpool, were you? So that meant you weren’t on his radar.”

Ross seemed quite willing to share all of the inner workings of the gang with Aaron and that suddenly frightened Robert. Surely he wasn’t planning on letting them go if he’d told them everything. 

Aaron was shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Didn’t see that one coming, did you?” Ross said with a smirk. “Malone’s a clever bastard. Doesn’t get his hands dirty.”

“Malone?” Aaron asked suddenly. “DI Malone?” He looked furious and disgustedand betrayed and like he might lunge at Ross and wipe the smug smirk off his face. 

Robert didn’t know what he could do to help but he was ready to jump up if Aaron needed him. 

Ross sucked in a breath and frowned as if he’d realised he’d said too much but didn’t really care. 

“Whoops. Me and my big mouth. Oh well it’s not like you’re going to be telling anyone, is it? Because do you know what, Aaron? Maybe you didn’t kill Finn. Maybe you tried to help him. But you’re still a lying bastard. You were still going to get us all banged up. And it’s still on you that Finn’s dead.” He tipped his head to the side slightly. “I’ll catch up with whoever killed him eventually, but it’s still your fault. You might as well have pulled the trigger yourself. And I believe in an eye for an eye.”

Suddenly, the gun seemed to be firmly held in his hand. The smirk was gone from his face; a look of righteousness and cold hatred had taken over. 

Robert tensed; his eyes widened in horror. Aaron glanced at him - his own face ashen and despairing. 

Then suddenly, Ross’s arm swung to the side and he pointed the gun straight at Robert. 

“You can see how it feels to lose someone you love,” he said simply.

Aaron’s head quickly turned between the gun and Robert. “No!” he screamed. 

Robert squeezed his eyes closed and there was a deafening bang

He felt himself thud to the floor, knocked clean off his chair. 

There was another bang, or maybe it was more of a crash, and then shouting and heavy footsteps thundering through his house. 

He couldn’t breathe. There was pain coming from all over his chest and back and shoulder, but he couldn’t pinpoint a single place where a bullet might be lodged in his body. 

Opening his eyes, Robert blinked at the dark head of hair just underneath his chin. 

“Aaron?” he called. 

He groaned as he realised that Aaron was lying across his body, slumped on top of him, as though he’d...as though he’d pushed him out of the way of the bullet.

“Aaron!” he shouted in panic. “Oh god, Aaron!”

He reached up, groaning as his body protested, and grabbed Aaron by the shoulders. He shook him and then rolled him from off his body. 

He gasped in horror as he saw the hole in the material of Aaron’s hoodie. 

“Aaron! Aaron, look at me. Aaron, please,” he called desperately. 

Letting out a pained groan, Aaron blinked his eyes open and frowned at him. 

“Ow,” he moaned.

“Where are you hurt? Where did you get hit? Why aren’t you bleeding?” Robert asked as he ran his hands all over Aaron’s chest, searching for the bullet wound. His brain was whirling through panicked thoughts too fast for him to keep up. He could only focus on Aaron and helping him. 

“Ross?” Aaron managed to say as he frowned up at Robert. 

Robert hadn’t even spared a thought for the man who had caused this. Hardly wanting to take his eyes off Aaron, he spun around, half-expecting to find Ross standing there pointing the gun at him and waiting to finish what he’d started, but instead his whole living room seemed to be full of the members of a police SWAT team, like something out of a movie. His mouth flapped open as he watched Ross getting dragged out of the door, his hands cuffed behind his back and his face no longer smirking, but scowling as he spat abuse at the officers manhandling him. 

They were safe. But Aaron was still hurt. 

Quickly, he turned back to him to find Aaron sitting up and rubbing at his chest with a pained frown on his face. 

Robert blinked at him in shock. 

“What...how...you got shot!” he managed to blurt out.

Aaron half-smiled, half-winced as he reached up slowly and dragged the zipper of his hoodie down, revealing the protective police vest underneath. He moved the material to the side to show the dent where a bullet had clearly slammed into the vest. His fingers traced over the spot before he glanced back up at Robert. 

“You knew he was here?” Robert asked, almost in disbelief that his idea had actually worked.

“I guessed as much,” Aaron replied. “There was obviously something wrong when you called. I knew you were trying to tell me something.”

“You had a plan,” Robert sighed out with relief.

Aaron frowned. “Didn’t quite go as I’d hoped. Wanted to get you out of here.” 

Robert shook his head. “I’d never have left you.”

Aaron frowned and reached up to cup the side of Robert’s face gently. 

Robert had almost forgotten his bruised cheek and his split lip with everything else that had happened, but he winced slightly when Aaron’s thumb carefully smoothed across his cheek. 

“I’m so sorry,” Aaron said quietly. 

“Don’t,” Robert replied immediately. 

“No, this is my fault. I put you in danger. I...”

“Aaron,” Robert cut him off. “I’m okay. We’re going to be okay. It’s over.”

Aaron gave him a serious look and then glanced over his shoulder. 

It startled Robert a little when a man dressed in what looked like full riot gear stepped up behind him. 

“Dingle, you alright?” the man asked. 

“Yes, Chief, I’m fine. Just a bit bruised.”

“Good work today. We’ve got enough information there to go after the lot of them right away. And this must be Robert,” he said as he looked down. 

Robert stared up at him with slightly wide eyes and nodded. 

“You did well today, son,” Aaron’s commanding officer said. “We’ll let the paramedics check you over and then we’re going to need your statement.”

“Okay,” Robert replied and his voice sounded a little shaky. He wondered if the adrenaline was finally leaving him and he was going into shock. 

Aaron squeezed his hand tightly. “Hey, you alright?”

Robert nodded but he wasn’t really sure. He suddenly felt overwhelmed.

“Don’t leave me,” he said quietly. 

“Never again,” Aaron told him and he offered him a tiny smile. “I’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d just like to thank Emmerdale for introducing DI Malone. I’d known all along I needed a ‘baddie cop’ who had leaked Aaron’s identity to the gang, but was struggling with coming up with who this would be (apart from an original character) then he came on screen and he was the perfect fit! It’s like they read my mind and did something good for once! Haha!


	11. 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are at the end of another Robron fic. I hope you enjoy the ending and as always please let me know what you thought.  
> Thanks so much for the feedback and support with writing this fic.

“Dad!” Lily shouted down the stairs. 

“Yes, Lils?” Aaron called back as he rolled his eyes fondly. This was probably the fourth time that Lily had shouted down asking for help with either finding something or asking if she needed to take something else with her. He wondered what she’d lost this time. 

“Do you know where my sunglasses are?” she shouted down. 

Aaron wandered to the bottom of the stairs and stuck his head around the banister to look up at her. As predicted, she was leaning over at the top, long blonde hair hanging down as she grinned at him hopefully, like her dad had all the answers and knew the exact location of each of her possessions. He was sure she used to be better at keeping track of her stuff when she was five: now she was twelve - and rather worryingly, for Aaron and Robert, approaching becoming a teenager - she seemed more prone to mess and losing things. 

“Have you tried looking in the last place you had them?” Aaron called up to her.

Lily rolled her eyes dramatically - a trait that Robert insisted she’d picked up from Aaron. “Dad,” she whined. “You’ve said the same thing about everything I’ve asked about this morning.”

“Because it’s good advice,” Aaron told her with a nod. He sometimes wondered when such pearls of wisdom had become the norm for him, but he supposed life and responsibilities and parenthood would have that affect on a person. “Get looking, Lils. Your dad will be back any minute and then we’re setting off.”

She immediately disappeared from view and Aaron returned to the kitchen to finish clearing away their breakfast pots. He could hear Lily clattering about in her room upstairs and then the front door swung open and Robert came wandering back in, shopping bag in one hand and toddler swinging off the other. 

“Daddy!” Charlie announced as his eyes landed on Aaron and he bounded across the living room and straight up to him. “We got sweets.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow at Robert before scooping their son into his arms to pick him up. “Sweets, huh?” hesaid with wide eyes. “What was Daddy thinking?” he added in a cheery tone that told Robert that actually he meant the question. 

“I was thinking that, when we get there, your mum and Paddy can run around after the kids so it doesn’t matter if they’re hyped up on sugar,” Robert told him as he plonked the shopping bag down on the kitchen table. 

“Is that right?” Aaron continued in the same tone. He grinned at Charlie. “I suppose that would mean there’d better be some sweets left before we get there because we know that naughty Daddy likes to eat them all up, don’t we, buddy?” He pretended to nibble on Charlie’s fingers that had been tickling at his beard and the little boy squealed with delight. 

“Are you trying to say I’m getting fat?” Robert asked as he patted his stomach. 

Aaron rolled his eyes dramatically. Robert was creeping towards forty, but Aaron still thought he was the most gorgeous man he’d ever laid eyes on. He closed the gap between them and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’ll do,” he murmured, but he knew that Robert understood what he really meant. 

Charlie wriggled and Aaron let him back down onto the floor. He tottered off into the living room and picked up his toy cars, quite content in his little world. 

“Where’s Lily?” Robert asked. 

“Still getting ready,” Aaron replied. “She’s got a long list of important stuff to take with her for our expedition across the Dales, obviously.”

Robert huffed and gave Aaron a knowing look. “As long as she doesn’t pack Simba into her backpack, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

The first time that Aaron had taken Robert and Lily to introduce them to his family, everything had been going swimmingly until they’d opened the car boot to get their bags out and Lily’s cat - a two year old rescue that Robert had agreed to after months of begging - had dived out and ran off up the street. 

Lily had burst into tears, saying she’d brought him along so he wouldn’t get lonely at home and obviously despaired that she’d never see him again. 

The rest of the day had consisted of searching for the cat - Aaron’s whole family had been roped in and Robert had been absolutely mortified about what they’d all think of him - and eventually, Simba had been reunited with Lily, who had won over every single member of Aaron’s family despite the trouble she’d caused. Aaron’s mum had doted on her ever since and Lily always loved visiting Nana Chas. She also had a strange fascination with her great-Uncle Cain. While Aaron knew that Robert was still a little wary of the stern-faced man, he was sure he’d seen Cain’s hard exterior melt more than once around Lily and she had no fear of him whatsoever. Lily seemed to have that affect on everyone. She’d made Aaron feel warm for the first time in months when she’d waved at him from the back seat of Robert’s car all those years ago on a dark country lane, and she continued to bring that joy even though he couldn’t call her a little girl anymore.

That seemed like a lifetime ago. The day that Aaron had fled from the gang and encountered Robert and Lily just outside Emmerdale, had turned his life upside down. If he’d told his younger self that going undercover with a dangerous gang would lead to him meeting his future husband, adopting a daughter and having a baby with a surrogate, he’d have laughed in his own face. But it had happened: this was his life. 

Aaron had experienced some scary things in his life, but the day he’d walked into Robert’s house and found him beaten up and held hostage at gunpoint by Ross had to be one of the worst. He’d had so many nightmares about how his plan to save Robert and capture Ross could have gone wrong: they were more common in the months immediately after the events of that day, but even now, nearly seven years later, he still sometimes woke up in the night, gasping and sweating and screaming for Robert, who he was sure he’d just seen shot right in front of him. 

Immediately after the day when Ross had finally tracked him down and used Robert as a way to lure him back, there had been a flurry of police activity. Aaron’s superiors had known that they’d had to act swiftly in order to arrest the members of the gang before they got wind of Ross’s arrest and went to ground. 

Aaron had worked tirelessly for months, putting his own safety on the line to infiltrate the gang and get as much information as he could from them. Combining Aaron’s intel with what Ross had revealed without knowing that Aaron had been wearing a concealed surveillance wire under his shirt (along with the life-saving bullet-proof vest), the police had had enough to nail the whole gang and bring them down once and for all. They’d leapt into action the very next day and, despite Robert’s anxiety about it, Aaron had joined the team as they’d raided the gang’s safe-houses and started to round them up. 

For his part, Ross had been sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of hostage-taking. That combined with his many crimes as part of the gang meant he’d be an old man before he was released. He’d tried to strike a deal over what he could tell the police about the gang, but thanks to Aaron, they didn’t need his information. Aaron hoped that the prison would throw away the key to his cell. 

It had taken longer to get hold of the man behind it all. The whole police force had been rocked by the revelation that one of their own detectives had actually been crooked and a seriously twisted, dangerous individual. 

Malone hadn’t been caught in the first wave of arrests and Aaron had laid awake for several nights worrying that he would turn up at the house and take his revenge on the man who had brought about his downfall. It had never been himself he’d been scared for, but he’d never allow anyone to harm Robert again or threaten Lily’s safety. He’d suggested to Robert that he stayed away from them for a while to draw any potential danger away, but Robert had point blank refused. He hadn’t wanted to be parted from Aaron ever again and had admitted that he felt better when they were all under one roof together. Plain-clothed police officers had been parked up outside the house for days and there had been a constant police presence in the village. 

They had both been concerned about how Lily would react to what had been going on. Thankfully, she’d been nowhere nearby when the police had descended on the village after Aaron had gone back inside the house to confront Ross. Obviously, Robert and Aaron hadn’t told her what had really gone on - she was far too young to be exposed to such things - but of course she had wondered why her Daddy was battered and bruised and why there were police at the house when she had been brought home by a rather shocked and bewildered Diane and Victoria after their day out. 

They’d told her a half-truth; that a bad man had hurt her Daddy because he’d wanted something that he thought Robert had. And that Aaron had saved him. While she was sad to see her father hurt, and the concern on her little face had nearly brought Robert to tears as she’d gently stroked his bruised cheek, she’d also been kind of excited and extremely impressed that Aaron had been like a proper Disney prince and rescued his love. After the drama was all over, and Aaron had been able to relax and start living without looking over his shoulder constantly, it had taken a long time for him to stop cheekily telling Robert that he was his princess. 

When the net had finally closed in on Malone, he’d gone down fighting. It was like he’d known that there was no wriggling out of the serious trouble he was in. There were no deals to be made or favours to call in. He’d been facing a lengthy prison sentence, maybe he’d known that he’d live the rest of his life behind bars, but he’d tried to fight his way out and the specialist police team that had gone after him had had no option but to shoot him before he’d killed someone else. 

Aaron had been disappointed that he wouldn’t face the justice he’d deserved for the terrible crimes he’d committed, but at the same time, he’d been relieved. With Malone dead, there had been no threats left to Aaron or his life or his happiness. As soon as Malone had been dealt with - the head cut off the snake - the remainder of his organisation had crumbled. With the evidence that Aaron had gathered, the police had had enough to press charges against the whole gang. The whole lot of them had been sentenced to years and years behind bars. And Aaron had finally been able to move on. 

And he’d done that. He’d moved in with Robert properly, not as someone hiding who he really was and waiting for his secrets to catch up with him, but as a man who could finally live without constantly fearing that he was going to get caught out. They’d settled into a proper life together as a family with Lily. 

After a year or so, Aaron had decided to move away from the force in Leeds. The commute to the city from Emmerdale had become too much and, while he loved his work, he’d soon realised that the long hours, added to his travelling time, were keeping him away from home a lot. His superior officers had been reluctant to let him go, but had written him a glowing reference, and he’d easily transferred to be based as a detective at Hotten’s police station. 

He’d been a bit concerned that he’d be bored being away from the many interesting and varied cases in the city, but he quickly realised he needn’t have worried: Emmerdale and the surrounding villages seemed to have a curious level of criminal activity for him to investigate and he had been kept busy from the day he’d arrived. 

The years that he and Robert had been together had been both wonderful and challenging. 

Their relationship had started because of a lie and, after the dust had settled following the arrests of the gang members, that had been something they couldn’t hide from anymore. 

Robert had supported Aaron and stood by him through the threat to their safety, and there had been no question that he loved Aaron, but he’d still struggled with the knowledge that Aaron had been lying to him for months. 

They’d argued about it, Aaron had offered to leave, they’d both got upset, they’d apologised, they’d slept on it and then argued again days later. They’d gone round in a circle more than once. But eventually they’d worked through it. They’d both attended counselling: they’d both needed it after what they’d been through. Aaron’s had been mandatory after his time undercover and the trauma of the things he’d experienced there: the terrible things the gang were responsible for; going on the run; being accused of murder; having to save Robert from Ross. 

Robert had chosen to go when it had been offered to him. Immediately after what had happened, he hadn’t realised just quite how much it had unsettled him and scared him and affected him, but the counselling had helped. And they’d got better at talking to one another about it too. 

It had been hard-going but it had been worth it. And that was all behind them now. 

A couple of years later, Aaron had asked Robert to marry him. They’d shared a perfect day with their families and friends and become Mr and Mr Sugden-Dingle. And then, a few years after their wedding, they’d finally added to their family when Charlie was born after a long, at times stressful, surrogacy process. 

Aaron smiled at Robert, knowing he’d momentarily got lost in his head, reminiscing about the journey they’d been on to get to this point in their lives. From the expression on his face, it looked like Robert understood exactly where his mind had been. 

Finally Lily came down the stairs, backpack in hand as well as her overnight bag. 

“No cats smuggled away inside any of those bags, missy?” Robert asked as he raised his eyebrow at her.

Lily rolled her eyes and Robert immediately looked over to Aaron as if to say, ‘see, that’s your fault’. 

“That was once, when I was about six, Dad. You bring it up every time we go to Nana’s,” she said.

“And I’ll still be bringing it up on your wedding day,” Robert told her with a smug smile. “That story has a lot of mileage.”

Lily rolled her eyes again.

“Lily! ‘m taking my cars,” Charlie announced as he rushed over to his older sister clutching his favourite toys.

“Good plan, buddy,” she said as she ruffled his hair.

It didn’t take long before the car was loaded up with their stuff and they were all ready to go. 

“So, music for the journey?” Robert asked as he glanced over at Aaron beside him and then in the rearview mirror at the kids. 

“Lion King!” Charlie shouted as he clapped his hands together enthusiastically. 

Aaron grinned across at Robert. Of course. 

“Hakuna Matata it is then,” Robert said with a smile as they pulled off the drive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely had to give them the happy ending they deserved (and I longed for in canon) with their happy marriage and their kids. And, of course, I experienced great joy when I found out that hostage-taking carries a life-sentence. Bye, Ross - you got what you deserved too. (Not that I’m bitter or anything!)  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed their happy ending as much as I did!


End file.
